


Let Me Be Your Superhero

by Ashleyparker2815



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Accidental wetting, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt Peter Parker, Hurt/Comfort, Hydra (Marvel), Hydra Peter Parker, Kid Peter Parker, LATER, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker Gets a Hug, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker is Underdeveloped, Precious Peter Parker, Protective Tony Stark, Separation Anxiety, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, tony is Trying His Best
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-11
Updated: 2020-08-15
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:41:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 85,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23603233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ashleyparker2815/pseuds/Ashleyparker2815
Summary: Tony Stark finds a 7-year old boy in the forest during a mission. He learns that the boy came from Hydra then he suddenly feels the need to protect him from the world, including the Avengers. Tony takes it upon himself to hide Peter away in one of his houses to keep him safe.
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 448
Kudos: 1021





	1. I’ll keep you safe

**Author's Note:**

> I’m so excited to post this fic!! I came up with the idea and immediately started writing it and haven’t stopped since! 
> 
> Peter is 7 years old in this fic and so basically all will be explained as chapters go on but Hydra didn’t abuse him or torture him So there will be none of that but they did mistreat him such as not giving him a normal childhood and keeping him locked away. If I think that there is something that needs to be warned then I will definitely be putting a warning up so don’t worry:) 
> 
> Also thank you to my fic friend chvotic for helping me with this fic and for bouncing ideas off of her:) thank uuu

All of Peter’s life, he’s known Hydra and that he belongs to them. 

He knows he had a family before he went to live with Hydra. A mom and a dad but he can’t remember their voices or what they looked like but he knows that he had them. 

At some point in his life he went to live with Hydra but that was a long time ago. He has a life with Hydra now but that doesn’t mean he’s happy with them. 

Peter knows he’s the youngest one there. He’s a lot smaller than everyone else plus he doesn’t have white hair and a furry face like the other guys do. 

He knows he’s seven years old. Five fingers on one hand and two fingers on his other hand. He figured that out himself because all the white haired men say that he’s really smart. He doesn’t think so but he still likes it when they call him that. 

There are rules that Hydra make him follow but he was never one for following the rules. One of the rules is that he’s never allowed to leave his bedroom without being accompanied by a guard. 

Peter thought that that particular rule is incredibly dumb since his door is always locked so even if he wanted to break the rule, he can’t. 

His room in his favourite place in the whole entire world. It has his very comfy bed with his teddy bear on it. Teddy was missing an eye but that was okay because it made him look even cooler that way. 

He had all of his drawings on his blue desk in the corner of his room where he would draw his mommy and daddy but since he couldn’t remember what they looked like, he would scribble over their faces with his favourite colour. Red! 

That’s what he was currently doing when he heard his door buzz open. He stood up and went to go peek to see who was coming to get him at this time. He had just gotten back from the lab and that meant he was in his room for the night. No one was supposed to come for him now. 

Peter pulled the heavy metal door open after no one pushed it open for him. He stood there, confused. No one was there but the door was open. That wasn’t supposed to happen. 

He stood just behind the red tape by his door. He wasn’t supposed to leave his room unless he was with someone. 

Peter peeked an eye out and saw no one down the hall. He looked in the other direction and still no one. 

Curiosity got the better of him so he stepped a foot on the other side of the red tape and when nothing happened, he put his other foot there as well. 

He was just about to start walking in the direction of the labs, the only way he’s ever gone. The other direction was prohibited for him to go. Peter wasn’t sure what was in that direction but he knew he wasn’t allowed that way. 

So he started walking in the direction that he was familiar with. It was a very long hallway that he was usually dragged down but when he was just about to get to the end of it, a loud ringing sound was heard above him and the lights on the ceiling started flashing red. 

Peter immediately lifted his hands up to his ears to cover them from the loud sound. 

He was about to turn around and run back to his room when out of nowhere, the hairs on the back of his neck and his arm stood up which meant that danger was coming. 

He heard gunshots going off and a lot of screaming and orders being shouted so Peter turned around and was about to start running when a strong metal arm grabbed him from around the waist, picking him up and making a dash back towards his bedroom. 

Peter fought them at first but then he realized that he was in trouble and he would be in even more trouble if he hurt one of the guards again so he stopped struggling in the man’s arms. He didn’t want to be locked in the dark room for two days again. 

It was when the man ran past his bedroom did Peter crank his neck to look at the guard. He saw a man he didn’t recognize. He had long dark hair that was covering his face and looked almost wet. 

Peter knew that the man wasn’t a guard and that he was running past his bedroom and Peter knew that wasn’t allowed. He started wiggling around in the dark haired man’s arms and trying to kick him from the awkward position he was in. 

“Get off! No going past bedroom! No!” Peter screamed at the man but he wasn’t put down. 

Peter knew that he was strong. It was one of the many reasons why Hydra liked him so much and he’s never ever met anyone who was stronger than him without using some kind of weapon to stop him but this guy didn’t even have a weapon and he was strong. 

It scared Peter. What if Hydra found someone better than him? 

At the end of the hallway, Peter could see a door with a circular window that had a bright light shining through it. 

“No! No! Back to room! Back!” Peter tried to order the man but he didn’t listen. 

He heard more shouting and gunshots going off then the man who was carrying him yelled out in pain and fell to the ground, bringing Peter down with him. 

Peter took that as his chance to get out of the man’s arms. He crawled out from under his heavy metal arm, taking his time to inspect it even in the middle of everything going on. 

“Peter! You need to get out of here!” The man yelled at him which caused Peter to crawl away from him. 

“How you know my name?” Peter asked him. No one ever referred to him as Peter unless he was being really good. Then they would use his actual name instead of calling him Subject or Weapon or Spider. 

“Doesn’t matter. They’re gonna kill you if you don’t leave right now! Run! Go out that door there and don’t stop running until you feel that you’re safe! Go!” The man with the metal arm yelled but Peter didn’t understand. 

The man threw a small ball in the direction of all the guards and then seconds after it hit the ground, it was exploding. The man turned to him. “Go! Now!” 

That was an order. Peter scrambled to his feet and ran to the door that the man was pointing to. He couldn’t figure out how to open it so he sent a few kicks to it and then it was bursting off its hinges and light was assaulting his face. 

He looked back at the man one more time before making a run for it. 

He was barefoot so the cold rocks on the ground were hurting his feet but he didn’t have time to worry about that because he was in a new area. 

It was… outside. 

He knew it was outside because he read about it in the picture books that he reads before he falls asleep. Outside where the mommy deer and baby deer live. 

Peter heard more gunshots going off but he didn’t focus on that. He had to keep running until he felt safe. Until the hair on the back of his neck went down. 

He was dressed in his white pyjamas that had turned brown due to all the dirt that got on it and it was incredibly thin so he was getting cold really quickly. 

He didn’t get a chance to look much outside but he was able to make out the other small buildings around the really big one that he came out of. There were a lot of trucks driving around but no one saw him because it was dark out. 

The light was coming from the giant spotlights surrounding the area but once Peter ran into the forest and away from everything, it was almost pitch dark and he was scared of the dark. 

The dark was where the monsters would come to eat you since you couldn’t see them but they could see you which made it the perfect time for them to come out. 

Peter resisted the urge to cry out for someone to come and get him but he had to get away. He was told to run and that’s what he was doing. 

Peter wasn’t sure how long he was running for. His feet were freezing and he was pretty sure that they were all cut up as well but he didn’t pay attention to that. 

He was starting to get tired and his chest hurt. Maybe from the cold. 

It was dark all around him and he was too tired to run anymore but now that he wasn’t running anymore, Peter realized that the hair on the back of his neck wasn’t standing up, well, it was but that was because of the cold. 

He turned around to look in the direction that he came from and no longer saw the bright lights through the trees anymore meaning that he had been running for a long time. Peter continued to walk for a bit even though he had no idea where he was or where he was going. 

The forest was the same as his book but he didn’t see mommy deer or baby deer anywhere and it was a lot darker where he was. 

After a while of walking on top of the running that he did, Peter was starting to get really tired. He felt really weak which hadn’t happened to him in a long time because he was always supposed to be ready to fight. 

A yawn escaped his mouth and it still looked like he was in the middle of nowhere so Peter picked one of the larger trees and curled into a ball under it. The cold air was causing him to shiver and his teeth were chattering but he tried to ignore that because he was too exhausted to do anything about it. 

Before Peter could stop himself, he was drifting into unconsciousness. 

.  
.  
.

Tony had no idea why they got a call to come out to some abandoned Hydra base at ass crack of dawn. 

Not that he was going to be sleeping anyways but he knew that the base had been empty from the last time SHIELD had raided it about a year and a half ago. 

What set the alarm off was probably just some drunk teenagers trying to throw some kind of party in the building and now he was losing precious lab time over it. 

Steve and Natasha were going to go in through one of the entrances to check if everything was really empty and then Clint and Sam were going to check the perimeter while Tony flew above and checked things out from there. 

It was a waste of time. Tony knew it was going to be but he couldn’t get out of it this time so he just decided to do his part so they could get home faster. 

“Entering base A.” Steve announced over the comms. 

Tony rolled his eyes in his hamlet. He was pretty sure that this mission was useless. 

“Flying above trees.” Tony announced to mock Steve. He wasn’t expecting anyone to respond so when Steve shot back he couldn’t help but indulge. 

“Tony, Maybe you should fly above the actual building.” Steve sounded annoyed but Tony didn’t care. 

“Hey Steve, Maybe you should check in base B instead. I heard there’s a secret lab in there.” Tony chuckled at himself and didn’t hear anything back from Steve which he expected. 

Although Tony did fly around the whole base a few times, checking for heat signatures or anything that seemed out of the ordinary but he didn’t find anything. 

“Hey, we got something here-oh fuck! Nat! On your right!” Steve yelled and Tony could hear him throw his shield and hit someone with it. 

“What’s the problem?” Tony asked. Maybe he was wrong after all. 

“We got four guys in lab coats.” Natasha said. “Scientists or doctors. I’m not sure.” 

“We’re coming to you.” Sam announced into the comms but then Steve spoke up. 

“No! Stay outside. Some might have escaped.” Steve commanded. 

Tony flew around the base one more time, this time he knew what he was looking for but he still didn’t find anything. He looked towards the forest one more time but he felt something pulling him in that direction this time so without even giving it another thought, Tony was taking off in the direction of the forest. 

He flew for a couple of seconds but it was too dark to see anything. “See anything, FRI?” 

“I see one heat signature 500 feet from you.” FRIDAY announced and pulled the red dot on his screen. 

“Let’s go check it out.” Tony said to no one in general then flew down and landed a few feet from the red dot. 

He heard some slight leaf shuffling but other than that it was quiet asides from the few gunshots at the base in the distance. 

Tony stopped walking to see if he could hear anything. He waited a few seconds and then heard… a whimper? 

“Is anyone there?” Tony asked then scrunched his face up. As if the person would jump out in front of him and be like ‘hey I’m right here’. Stupid. 

He listened again and heard a louder whimper and then some more shuffling around so he looked at the tree that he heard it from and quickly walked around it. 

What he saw was the very last thing he ever expected to see. 

A child. 

He immediately relaxed but then panicked because why the fuck was there a child in the dark forest alone. 

He lifted up his face mask so he would hopefully appear less scary to the child. “Hi. Um, are you lost?” 

The kid was huddled against the tree as if they were hoping that the tree would swallow them whole. They were curled into a ball and had their arms wrapped around themselves as if that would protect them from Iron Man. 

Tony looked into the deep, chocolate brown eyes of the child. He wasn’t sure if it was a boy or a girl. The kid had long curly brown hair that looked like it hadn't been brushed or washed in a long time. Well, it wasn’t long like a girl's hair but it was long for a boy. 

Tony took another step forward but then stopped when the kid flinched in on themselves. He held up his hands to show that he wasn’t going to hurt the kid but it probably looked even worse in the Iron Man suit so Tony looked around before stepping out of it. 

The kid looked surprised to see a person come out of the suit but then their head was back in their knees and an eye peeked out at Tony. 

“Hi. I’m Tony. What’s your name?” Tony slowly kneeled down in front of the kid. “Do you know your name?” 

The kid slowly lifted his head up from his knees and pointed to himself. Tony nodded and waited. “Peter.” 

“Your name is Peter?” Tony asked to clarify and the kid nodded his head. Hmm, a boy, Tony thought to himself. “It’s nice to meet you Peter. Are you lost?” 

Peter shook his head and pointed towards the base. “Hydra.” 

Tony felt his blood run cold. No kid should know about Hydra unless the kid came from there and Tony is almost certain that that is where Peter came from. 

“Did you come from Hydra?” Tony asked although he’s sure that he already knows what the answer is going to be. 

“Yes. Home.” Peter smiled slightly and pointed in that direction again. 

Tony felt sick. There was only one reason that a child would live at Hydra for and that reason isn’t very good. 

“How old are you, Peter?” Tony asked the boy who had uncurled from himself just a bit. Tony could see that he is barefoot and in the thinnest of clothes. 

Peter held his arms out and brought them in front of him. Tony could see that he was holding seven fingers up. “You’re seven years old?” 

“Five fingers on this hand and two fingers on the other.” Peter explained as if Tony didn’t already know. 

Tony looked at the kid. He looked a lot younger than seven although Tony doesn’t know a lot about kids, he does know that he can see his boney body sticking through his clothes and that there is almost no fat on his body. 

There was an extra loud gunshot from the base that echoed into the forest and Peter flinched in on himself and looked up at Tony. 

Tony had no idea what to do. He knew he couldn’t bring the kid back to Hydra for obvious reasons and he knew that the team should know about his findings but he couldn’t tell them. He was sure that if they knew then they would call up Fury and he would have the kid sent somewhere and treat him probably the same way that Hydra treated him. 

He can’t tell from just looking at Peter but Tony thought that there definitely had to be something wrong with Peter. Hydra wouldn’t just be keeping a random kid at their base for the fun of it, they had to be running tests on him and for that reason, Tony knew that he can’t trust anyone with Peter right now. 

Tony glanced at the terrified kid and then in the direction of the base then back at the kid again. “Look, Uh, I’m gonna take you somewhere safe, okay? Does that sound good?” 

Peter just stared at him and Tony wondered how much English the kid actually understood. Maybe he knows Russian? 

“You can’t go back to Hydra because you’re not safe there.” Tony explained and Peter slowly nodded his head. “So I’m gonna take you somewhere where you’ll be safe. With me.” 

Peter slowly uncurled from himself and ever so slowly crawled so that he was right in front of Tony. He stood up on his knees and pointed to Tony’s chest, right below his Arc reactor. 

“Safe with Tony?” Peter asked. 

Tony smiled slightly and nodded his head. “Yeah, exactly. But we have to go now. Are you scared of heights?” 

Peter just stared at him so Tony didn’t waste any time climbing into his suit and keeping his face mask up so that Peter could still see him. “I’m gonna pick you up, okay?” 

Peter didn’t say anything but they were running low on time so Tony picked him up and held him close to his chest as he flew into the air. 

He kept watching Peter’s reaction to make sure that the child wasn’t freaking out and thankfully he wasn’t. If anything, it looked like Peter actually liked it. He was smiling a bit and trying to turn his head so he could look at the ground below them. 

“Stop moving around, buddy.” Tony told him and Peter immediately stilled in his arms. 

Tony could hear his earpiece going off so he shut it off immediately. 

He knew he couldn’t take Peter to the tower so he flew him to a house that he used to spend a lot of alone time with Pepper at before they broke up and then got back together and then broke up again and now Tony isn’t even sure where they stand. 

The house is down a quiet road and then down the driveway which is on private property so no one can get to the house without Tony getting an alert for it.

It’ll be the perfect place to keep Peter safe and out of Hydra’s hands.


	2. I’m falling to pieces

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiii guys:) idkkk why but I’m sooo freaking exhausted and it’s only 5pm ahhh

Tony knows he’s gonna be in a lot of trouble when he answers his earpiece although he can’t seem to find it in him to care all that much at the moment. 

He can feel Peter start to squirm a lot in his arms and he’s scared that the kid is going to fall out of his arms so he holds him just a little bit tighter and he hopes that he doesn’t break the poor boy. 

When he landed , he placed Peter on the ground and stepped out of his suit. He’s already getting an alert that someone else is on his property which he knows is Peter so he ignored the alert. 

He looked down at Peter who had crouched into a ball on the ground as he looked at the house in front of them. 

“Uh, kid? Come with me. This is where you’re going to be staying for a little bit, okay? I promise that you’ll be safe here.” Tony started walking towards the house and soon Peter stood up and followed him. 

“Building?” Peter asked as they walked up the two steps to go inside. 

“Um, no. It’s a house. I guess it doesn’t really look like one, does it?” Tony asked as he opened the front door and stepped inside. 

Peter shook his head at his question but cautiously walked in anyways. Tony watched as the boy slowly walked into the house and looked at everything. 

For some reason, Tony feels this strange sense of wanting to protect the boy. That’s why he didn’t just tell the rest of the team what he found. He knows that they’ll want to keep Peter locked away somewhere and that they won’t see him as a child but as something that came from Hydra and he wants to protect the boy from that. 

“Big wall.” Peter said and pointed at one of the large walls. 

Tony nodded his head and was about to comment on it when the kid placed his hands on the wall and then one foot and then the other foot and he climbed up the wall. 

Tony felt his heart drop. “Oh my god.” 

He watched as Peter climbed up the wall like it’s second nature to him. Tony unconsciously rushed to stand underneath the kid and got ready to catch him if he fell. “Um… Peter? Kid, you should come down. How are you doing that oh my god.” 

Once Peter got to the top, he sat himself down in the corner and waved down at Tony. “Big wall.” 

Tony ran a hand down his face. “Yes. Big wall. Just… come down please.” 

The boy shook his head and let out a tiny giggle before he stood up on the ceiling and walked to the middle of the ceiling. 

“Peter. That is very dangerous. Come down.” Tony can feel his heart start to speed up. He ran his hands through his hair and panics. 

The smile immediately left the child’s face and then he was quickly climbing back down the wall and standing in front of Tony. “I sorry.” 

“What? It’s-it’s okay.” Tony looked down at him puzzled. “How did you do that? What did they do to you?” 

Peter looked at his hands. “Sticky.” 

“You’re… sticky?” Tony asked, confused. 

Peter nodded his head and then looked down at his dirty feet and back up to the wall. Tony followed his gaze and saw a bunch of small dirty little footprints on the wall and ceiling. That would be impossible to explain. 

“Okay um… you need to get clean. Come with me.” Tony started walking to the bathroom down the hallway that had a bathtub and shower in it. The kid was extremely dirty so he could get him to wash up while he goes and checks in with the team. 

“Big shower in there?” Peter asked as he followed Tony closely behind. 

“I mean, it’s kinda big. It’ll be big for you.” Tony answered him and then pushed open the door and turned the light on. 

Peter looked at everything with wide eyes. “Okay so… I have to go take care of some stuff so I’m gonna keep you here but you’re safe here.” 

Peter reached a hand out and grabbed onto Tony’s gently. “Safe with Tony?” 

“You’re safe with me because even though I won’t be here, I’ll have my friend FRIDAY watching you. She’ll make sure you stay safe.” Tony explained but he didn’t know how much Peter was understanding him. “FRIDAY, say hi to my new friend Peter.” 

Peter pointed at his chest and was about to say something but FRIDAY spoke. “It’s nice to meet you, Peter. I am FRIDAY.” 

Peter looked at Tony and let out a loud high pitched scream. 

“Ow. My ears. Peter, why are you screaming?” Tony winced and asked the child who had thankfully stopped screaming. 

Peter shut his mouth and hugged his arms around his body. “Bad?” 

“Who’s bad?” Tony asked confused and then Peter pointed to the ceiling where the voice came from. “FRIDAY isn’t bad. I promise you she will be your best friend.” 

Peter continued to stare at Tony so Tony looked away and walked towards the door. “I’m going to be right back-” Peter started following Tony so Tony shook his head. “No, you stay here.” 

After taking a few steps back and Peter stayed where he was, Tony decided to fully leave the bathroom. He kept checking behind him every so often just to make sure that Peter was okay. 

“FRI, let me know if the kid gets into any trouble. I’ll be back in about an hour.” Tony said before leaving the house, getting into his suit and flying away. 

He turned his comms on and just prayed that no one died while he was offline. “I’m back. My comms shut off as I was taking out one of their electrical rooms.” 

“Tony, what the fuck!” Clint yelled. “We thought you were taken out.” 

“Me? Seriously?” Tony was offended. He checked his screen for their location and saw that they were on the Quinjet. 

“Are you okay, Stark?” Steve asked with command. 

“Perfect, Cap. How are you?” Tony joked with a tease to his voice. 

“I’m fine. Everyone is okay and accounted for.” Steve replied. Tony could hear the sound of the jet taking off in the background. 

“So what’s the word? Did you figure out what was going on there?” Tony asked after a few moments of silence was between the two of them. 

“We captured one guy.” Natasha said. “We believe he’s a scientist but we’re not sure. We’re taking him back to the tower to talk to him after Fury gets there.” 

“Is that all?” Tony asked. He landed at the tower since he got there first and then he walked so his suit was taken off of him. “What was the base for?” 

“We don’t know.” Steve said. “We’ll be at the tower in fifteen minutes so we’ll debrief then.” 

.  
.  
.

After Tony left, Peter listened for the front door to close and then he was walking to the bathroom door but not crossing the invisible line. 

Tony had told him not to follow him so he assumed that he had to stay in the room that he was in but he wasn’t sure. The door wasn’t shut on him and Tony never said to stay in the room. 

Peter looked around and carefully placed a foot outside of the bathroom. After nothing happened, he did the same with the other foot and then he was walking down the hallway. 

“Hello. Hi hi hi.” Peter mumbled to himself and then walked further down the hallway until he was in the living room. He saw the couch so he ran over to it and sat himself down. It was really comfortable but it wasn’t like his bed at Hydra. His bed was the best bed. 

Peter got off the couch and walked around the house more. It was really dark outside so he could see his reflection in the big window. 

“Peter. Hi. Hi.” Peter looked at himself and then let out a giggle at how crazy his hair looked. It was sticking up in every direction. 

He tried to flatten it down but after it didn’t listen to him he tugged hard on it. “Bad. Bad, I say you bad.” 

He sighed loudly after and walked away from his reflection. Peter looked around the room but it looked nothing like Hydra. The floor was warm on his feet and everything looked so clean that he could lick it and it wouldn’t taste bad. 

Peter saw some stairs but he knew he was never allowed upstairs. Back at Hydra only the guards could go upstairs because that was where the very important people worked. He was only allowed in the labs, the hallways and some training rooms and of course his favourite place ever. His bedroom. 

Peter looked up the stairs but he didn’t want his new friend to come back and be mad at him so he didn’t go up even though he really wanted to see what was up there. 

He walked back to the front door where he walked in and heard his new friend walk out so he decided to sit there and wait for him to come back. 

.  
.  
.

As Tony was driving back to the house that he left Peter in, he was thinking about the debriefing that had taken place over an hour. 

Fury had acted like he was actually there and had the audacity to say that they were hiding something from him, of course Tony was but no one else knew that and it would stay that way. 

Natasha was going to interrogate the guy that they brought back first thing in the morning but Tony knew that he wouldn’t give them any information. It would be ridiculous for them to expect the Hydra agent to just give up so easily. 

From what he knew, the base wasn’t a popular one meaning that not much went on there besides from the fact that for some reason an actual child was found there. 

Tony wanted to secretly bring Natasha aside and tell her who he found but he knew he couldn’t. He knew it would get back to Fury and he couldn’t allow that. At least not right now. 

So aside from the hostage, there wasn’t much that they got from the base. It just looked like their typical Hydra base just… smaller. The labs were mainly empty by the time they got there and the security cameras were destroyed with no trace of them. 

Tony was slightly thankful for the cameras being destroyed because he didn’t want the Avengers to watch the footage and see a child walking around because then the hunt would be on for Peter. 

He pulled up to the house and parked his car in front, sending a quick text to Pepper after she was asking him to reply to his emails. He would not be getting to that tonight. 

Tony shut his car off and got out. He grabbed a bag from the passenger seat that he packed full of food before coming here since he wasn’t sure what was in the fridge. 

Last time he was at the house was over a month ago after he had a huge anxiety attack and needed to get away from everything for a few days. He made sure to leave only water in the fridge because he never knew when he would be coming back and he never wanted to have to deal with rotten food. 

Tony swung the bag around his shoulders and opened the door, only to be met with the kid standing right there. “Oh shit. You scared me.” 

Peter stood up fully and looked at Tony. 

Tony saw that Peter didn’t get himself cleaned at all. He was still wearing the same dirty clothes and his feet were a different colour still. He then sighed sadly because why the hell did he think that Peter could shower by himself when the kid could barely speak in full sentences. 

“I’m sorry, buddy. I should have helped you turn the shower on and gave you something to wear. I didn’t even think of it.” Tony sighed and held the bag in his hand. 

Peter looked at it curiously and then his eyes lit up. “Toys? For me?” 

Tony looked at the bag and shook his head. “No. It’s just food.” 

Peter’s smile dropped. “But it’s okay because we need to get a few things for the house, don’t you think? I can order you whatever toys you want.” 

“Yes.” Peter agreed and smiled up at Tony. 

“How about we do that after you get all cleaned up, okay? You’ll feel so much better after.” Tony began walking towards the kitchen and put the bag on the table. Then he started walking back towards the bathroom that he left Peter in before. “So, what did you get up to while I was gone?” 

“I did not go up the stairs. You happy?” Peter tugged on his hand. 

Tony thought that that was a bit odd but he didn’t say anything about that. “Sure. I’m gonna turn the shower on for you. There’s a bunch of soaps and stuff so help yourself.” 

Tony turned the shower on and made sure that it was at an appropriate temperature before turning back to the kid who was still looking up at him with wide eyes. 

“All set. I’ll be outside if you need me and I’ll find something for you to wear after too.” Tony turned to leave but there was a hand on his stopping him from leaving. 

“Don’t go. Help.” Peter said and then lifted his arms up. At first, Tony wasn’t sure what Peter was doing but then he realized that the kid wanted him to help take his shirt off so he hesitated before grabbing the bottom of Peter’s dirty shirt and pulling it over his head. 

“I’m gonna throw this in the garbage because you probably don’t need this anymore. You definitely don’t.” Tony explained as he walked over to the garage and put the shirt inside. 

He turned back to Peter who was extremely thin. He could see the boy's ribs and his boney arms. It made him wonder what kind of environment this kid was living in. 

He noticed that Peter still hadn’t taken off his pants so he just assumed that Peter was waiting for him to leave. “Alright, call me if you need me.” 

Peter let out a whimper so Tony turned back to look at him. “Help. Please. I don’t shower on own.” 

“You don’t shower by yourself?” Tony asked him, he wasn’t sure what Peter was trying to say. 

Peter shook his head. “Help.” 

“Okay. Okay um, I’m just gonna pull down your pants and then you can hop into the warm shower.” Tony explained then he kneeled down and grabbed onto the boys waistband, checking to make sure that that was what Peter needed help with before he tugged them down. 

After Peter stepped out of them, Tony stood up to go throw the pants out as well. He felt dirty after touching the clothes so he could only imagine how Peter felt. 

Peter slowly walked towards the shower and stepped inside but the water didn’t immediately hit him so he reached his arm out and flinched back when the water touched him. He looked at Tony. “Too hot. Make it cold.” 

Tony wanted to correct the boy for telling him what to do but he knew that Peter didn’t know any better so he reached out to touch the water, thinking he made it too hot but it was perfect. “Bud, it’s warm. This is shower water. It's actually a bit colder than that.” 

Peter shook his head and pointed to the water. “Too hot. Colder cause it’s always cold.” 

Tony looked at him confused. “Your showers at Hydra were always cold?” 

Peter smiled and nodded his head. “Always cold.” 

Tony frowned. That sounded like borderline torture but the kid seemed excited. “Do you- do you like cold showers?” 

Peter scrunched his face up and shook his head. “No. Too cold but have to.” 

“Buddy, no. No. You don’t have to have a cold shower. Those are the worst.” Tony felt his heart break at that. This poor child was probably getting about one shower a month, if that and those showers had to be cold. Not anymore. “Look, if you think this is too hot just because you aren’t used to it then I’ll put it a little bit colder.” 

Peter slowly nodded his hand and then reached his arm out again to touch the water but he didn’t flinch away this time. He stepped more into the water until his whole body was under it and his hair was wet. 

Tony looked down and saw the dirt from Peter’s feet and his body running down the drain. It looked absolutely disgusting to know that all of that is coming from a child. 

Tony looked away and smiled at what Peter was doing. He was tugging down his hair so that the hair stretched over his eyes and then he was giggling. 

Tony didn’t want to ruin the boy's fun but he also wanted him to get cleaned off. “Pete, how about we wash your hair now. I’m assuming you need help?” 

Peter stopped giggling and turned to look at Tony. He stared at him for a few seconds before slowly nodding his head. “Thought so. Can you pass me the blue bottle?” 

Peter looked to where Tony was pointing and then grabbed the blue bottle and handed it to the man before walking back under the running water. 

Tony read the bottle, it was Peppers shampoo that smelt like bananas. It was also for sensitive skin which Tony assumed would be good for Peter. 

“Come back over here, bud. I gotta wash your hair.” Tony gestured for Peter to walk towards him so Peter did that. Tony hesitated as he put more than enough shampoo into his hands and put his hands in Peter’s hair. 

It was extremely weird at first and he felt extremely uncomfortable because it was just so dissimilar to him. He had never washed anyone’s hair like this before but after a few seconds, Peter was relaxing to his touch and Tony found that the motions were calming to him as well, bringing him back to his own childhood. 

After about a minute or two, Peter’s hair was full of bubbles and was definitely clean so Tony reached into the shower to rinse his hands. “How about you go rinse your hair and then I’ll give you some body wash.” 

Peter opened his eyes slightly just so he could walk to the shower water and stood under it. Tony listened to the boy giggle as he rinsed his hair out. 

Tony took that time to grab a washcloth for Peter to clean his body. “Did you get all the soap out?” 

Peter turned to look at him. “Smells good.” 

“Yeah, it’s banana scented. Do you like bananas?” Tony asked and Peter nodded his head but Tony wasn’t sure if he actually knew what a banana was. He didn’t know what they fed Peter there. “Can you pass me the red bottle. This one is strawberry scented and it cleans your body.” Tony explained. 

Peter passed him the red bottle so Tony could now assume that Peter knew more than he was letting on about what he knew. “So you know your colours?” 

Peter nodded. “So smart.” 

Tony agreed. “I bet you are. What colour am I wearing?” 

Peter looked at Tony’s red shirt. “Red. I like red.” 

“Me too. I also like the colour gold.” Tony said as he wet the washcloth and poured a lot of the soap onto it. “Okay so you take this and you rub it all over your body. Here, like this.” 

Tony grabbed Peter’s arm gently and waited for him to pull away from him but after he didn’t, Tony rubbed the soapy cloth all over the kids arm. “Like this. But you have to get everywhere like behind your ears and between your legs too.” 

Peter nodded his head and slowly started rubbing the cloth all over his body to clean himself off. Tony pretended to be busy doing absolutely nothing just so he wasn’t watching the kid like a creep. 

“You good, Pete?” Tony asked and peeked into the shower, happy to see that Peter had cleaned everywhere he told him to. “Perfect. Now just rinse off.” 

Tony could see that Peter’s feet were still dirty as if the dirt was embedded into his feet so he grabbed another washcloth and wet it then poured a bunch of soap onto it. “If you come sit here then I’ll help you clean your feet. Look at that dirt.” 

Peter did as he was told and stuck one foot out towards Tony. Tony took the tiny foot in his hand and gently started cleaning it but the kid was giggling. “Oh I see. You’re ticklish, aren’t you?” 

“Feels funny.” Peter explained and then switched feet after Tony was done. 

It was satisfying for Tony to see Peter fully clean because it was like a fresh start for the boy. He left Hydra and wasn’t going back to them and he washed off all the dirt from that place. 

He had shut the shower off and saw Peter’s smile drop once it was off. “How about tomorrow you take another shower, okay?” 

Peter smiled at him. “A warm one?” 

Tony nodded. He dried Peter’s hair off and wrapped him in a towel that looked like a giant blanket on his small body. “The warmest shower you want.” 

Peter smiled as he followed Tony out of the bathroom and into the hallway. 

Tony decided to take Peter to one of the guest bedrooms for the night. He had no idea how Peter would react to anything or if he would even sleep but he had to put the kid to bed. 

As Tony got to the stairs, Peter stopped. “No upstairs. Not allowed.” 

“You weren’t allowed upstairs at Hydra?” Tony asked but he already knew the answer. 

“Not me. Only important others.” Peter explained and stuck his bottom lip out. 

Tony kneeled down so that he was closer to the kids height. “Peter, listen to me. You aren’t at Hydra anymore, you’re with me so you’re allowed to go upstairs.” 

Peter reached a tiny hand out of his towel and grabbed onto Tony’s much larger one. “Safe with Tony.” 

“Yeah, bud. Always.” Tony felt his heart swell. It was a weird and new feeling but he liked it. 

He walked extra slowly as Peter followed him up the steps. Once they got to the top, Peter looked around with wide eyes. 

Tony wondered what was going through the child’s mind. Peter’s mind was probably racing with a million thoughts at once. 

When they got to the guest bedroom, Tony let go of Peter’s hand and opened up one of the dresser drawers, pulling out a shirt. He held up the shirt that he grabbed for Peter. It was a plain white T-shirt but it would have to do until he could order new clothes for the child. 

“I’m gonna put this on you until tomorrow. Is that okay?” Tony held up the shirt and Peter nodded then dropped his towel so Tony could help him into it. 

It was huge on Peter but it was only temporary so it was okay. 

“There. Is it comfy? It’s clean.” Tony asked the boy who looked down at himself and then let out a yawn. 

“When I go back?” Peter asked and rubbed his eyes with a tiny fist. 

Tony knew Peter was asking when he goes back to Hydra and he hated that Peter thought he was going back. “You’re not going back, Peter. You’re going to stay with me for a little bit, okay?” 

Peter looked sad at first. “But… bear? My bed?” 

Tony moved towards the bed and pulled back the blankets. “Look. This can be your new bed and if you really don’t like it then I’ll get you a new bed.” 

Peter followed Tony and looked at the bed then looked up at Tony. “Bear?” 

“You have a teddy bear?” Peter nodded. “Okay… um, I’ll get you a new bear tomorrow but for now you can cuddle with one of the pillows. It’s really comfy.” 

Peter looked like he wanted to argue but he didn’t. He climbed onto the bed and curled into a ball. Tony didn’t question the position since he’s seen Peter do that many times. 

“I’ll be right down the hall if you need me.” Tony said to him before he covered him with the blankets and left the room to go do a bunch of research on this kid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys liked that chapter:) I just wanted to explain if it wasn’t obvious but peter is kinda crazy so that’s why he was talking to himself and why he acts so odd because he obviously didn’t have anyone to play with at hydra so he had to play with himself and probably also his bear but yea he’s a tad crazy
> 
> Also this is Tony’s house in the forest. In my opinion it is UGLY as hell but I just get Tony Stark vibes from it and it fits perfectly so yea here it is: 
> 
> https://www.contemporist.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/modern-house-201216-455-01-800x1619.jpg
> 
> Also also I just want to say that the house has a lot of windows but Tony put covers over the windows so no one can see inside. Like the electric ones so he will always have them closed


	3. We could be brighter than the sun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m gonna try and get two chapters out a week for this fic but that might be a tad hard right now just because I’m writing a new fic so I’m really into that one right now haha anyways I Good you guys like this chapter:)))

After Tony left, Peter pushed the blankets off of him and got out of the big bed. 

Tony never said he had to stay in his room, plus he didn’t shut the door so that meant that he was allowed outside of his bedroom. Maybe. 

He walked over to the doorway and peeked his head out. He couldn’t see Tony but he knew he was close by since he could hear his heartbeat. 

Peter wanted to leave his room but he knew the rules. It was different with his new friend, he didn’t get the funny feeling that he got when he was at Hydra, the feeling that he would get before something bad would happen. He didn’t get that around Tony; even when they first met all those hours ago. 

Peter decided to go for it. He took a step outside of his bedroom and once he was standing in the hallway and nothing happened to him, he started giggling and taking off running down the hallway. 

It was a really funny looking house and had a lot of big windows that he could see his reflection in. He looked different now since his hair was softer and it smelt really good too! 

Peter stood at the top of the stairs and decided to jump down them. It was really high up but he wanted to see how high he could jump. 

So Peter stood on the edge of the very top step and bent his legs out then he jumped. He screamed once he was in the air because it was too high up and he was scared. 

He shot a web out at the wall and caught himself before he could hit the ground and hurt himself. He was holding onto his web above the ground when he heard Tony yell his name and come running out. 

Tony felt his heart drop into his stomach when he heard Peter scream. His first thought was that the Hydra agents had found him and they were taking the kid back so Tony ran out of his room, towards the scream and stood at the top of the stairs in shock. 

Peter was swinging from… a web? 

The child was swinging from an actual web that was attached to the ceiling. Tony ran down the stairs and stood under Peter just in case he fell. 

“Peter. Let go. What are you doing?” Tony looked up at the kid who was actually giggling. “That is so dangerous, Peter. Get down from there.” 

To Tony’s shock, the kid swung on the web that was dangling high above the ground and he attached onto the wall with his sticky hands and feet and scaled down the wall until he was on the ground. 

Tony sighed in relief and grabbed his chest. Peter was standing directly in front of him, looking up at Tony with the widest brown eyes that Tony had ever seen. It looked like the child held magic in his eyes. 

“I so bad.” Peter said and continued to stare at Tony. 

Tony pinched the bridge of his nose. “No, you’re not bad. Just, don’t do that again, okay? How did you even get up there?” 

Peter pointed to the top of the stairs. “I jump so high but it’s too high.” 

“What? You-you jumped from the top of the stairs?” Tony could not believe what he was hearing. Peter nodded his head. “Why?” 

“Fun.” The boy said then looked straight ahead. His face scrunched up and for a second, Tony thought he was going to start crying but then he lifted up his shirt and stuck out his stomach to rub it. “Hungry.” 

“Uh, maybe you should keep your shirt down because you’re not wearing any pants or anything.” Tony watched as Peter looked at him confused and then slowly dropped his shirt. “You’re hungry?” 

Peter smiled at him and Tony loved seeing that cheeky smile. “I should have fed you earlier.” He started walking to the kitchen with Peter following behind him. “What do you like? I don’t have much right now but I promise I’ll order some more food first thing tomorrow. You can even pick.” 

Tony opened the fridge and saw that there was only bottled water in there. He was glad he brought the bag of food from the tower. 

“Okay well, we got cereal. You like cereal?” Tony looked at Peter’s reaction and saw that the kid was bouncing on the balls of his feet in excitement. 

“Yum! Want Cheerios. Now.” Peter demanded as he smiled at Tony excitedly for the possible Cheerios that he might be getting. Tony was surprised at the demand in the kids' words but he couldn’t correct him now. He knew that Peter wasn’t being taught manners at all and most likely picked up on the scientists demands. 

Tony looked in the bag and was thankful that he had Cheerios. He placed the box in front of Peter who let out a high pitch squeal. 

“Did they feed you Cheerios there?” Tony asked and Peter nodded his head. 

That made Tony wonder what else they fed him and what Peter’s diet consisted of. If they were feeding him Cheerios then surely they weren’t mistreating him that poorly. 

“Do you eat it with milk?” Tony asked as he got out a bowl and the milk from the bag. Peter nodded so Tony poured Peter a bowl and placed it on the kitchen island. “Come sit.” 

Peter easily climbed up onto the stool and excitedly stuck his hand in the bowl, ignoring the spoon. He frowned and pulled his hand out. 

Tony watched as Peter looked into the bowl with a frown. He stuck his hand into it again and pulled it out then looked over at Tony. 

“Wet. Why’s wet?” He asked and tilted his head at Tony. 

“It’s milk.” The two of them stared at each other for a few seconds. “So you haven’t actually eaten it with milk before?” 

Peter looked down at his bowl again and back up at Tony. Tony doesn’t want to try to tell Peter that Cheerios taste better with milk right now so he grabbed another bowl and filled it with dry Cheerios. 

The smile that Peter gave once he realized that his Cheerios weren’t wet was the cutest thing Tony had ever seen and he’s never felt that way about anything before. 

He poured himself his own bowl with milk and he ate it with Peter before he pulled out two glasses and an apple juice container. “Do you want some apple juice, kid?” 

Peter nodded his head as he shoved another handful of cereal into his mouth. Tony was positive that Peter had no idea what he’s agreeing to. He poured him a glass anyways and slid it over to Peter. 

As Tony took a sip from his own glass, he watched Peter grab onto the glass with both hands and look inside. He tried to stick his tongue in to reach the liquid but he couldn’t so he lifted the glass up and it poured all over his face and down the front of his shirt. 

Tony laughed at the mess that the kid made but also the funny face that he’s making. Peter had dropped the glass onto the table and was holding his arms out with a surprised look on his face. It was hilarious. 

“Okay. It’s alright. I should have asked if you Uh, knew how to use a cup. But you would’ve said yes anyways, right?” Tony asked and Peter nodded his head. “I’m Uh, I’m gonna go get you a clean shirt. Stay. Right. Here.” 

“Yes.” Peter nodded his head and went back to eating his Cheerios so Tony quickly left to go get another one of his shirts for Peter. 

When he came back, Peter was thankfully still in the same spot. Tony walked up to him. “I’m gonna pull this sticky shirt off of you.” 

Peter lifted his arms up and so Tony pulled the wet and sticky shirt off the child and tossed it on the ground for now. He walked to the sink and soaked a paper towel with water and handed it to Peter. “Just clean your chest off so it’s not sticky.” 

Peter hesitated but took the wet paper towel from Tony and wiped at his chest and his arms like in the shower then he handed the wet cloth back to Tony. 

Tony set it on the island and pulled the clean shirt over the kids body. “There. Should we try the apple juice again?” 

“Yes.” Peter nodded his head so Tony filled up another glass but only half way. 

“I’m gonna hold it to your mouth so you can drink.” Tony explained to him and waited for Peter to put his mouth on the end before Tony slowly raised the glass up. Peter drank for a bit and then Tony pulled the glass away. “Is it good?” 

Peter tasted it in his mouth and then his eyes lit up and he was reaching for the glass desperately. Tony chuckled at the sight in front of him but he held the glass up to Peter’s mouth either way so he could drink it all. 

After it’s all gone, Tony put the glass down. “I’m guessing you’ve never had apple juice before.” 

“So yum. More. Now.” Peter pointed at the apple juice container from across the table and looked at Tony desperately. 

“Okay. I’ll get you some more. Maybe I have a water bottle somewhere for you to drink out of.” Tony spoke to himself and quickly looked in the kitchen but he didn’t see anything so he just poured the juice into the same glass and helped Peter drink it without spilling anything. 

After the juice was gone, Tony put the glass down and sat next to the kid. He was finishing off his last bit of cereal like it was the last meal he was going to get but Tony didn’t blame the boy. In Hydra, Peter wouldn’t have known what meal would be his last meal for a while. 

When Peter finished the last bit of cereal, he looked over at Tony. “Would you like some more?” 

Peter nodded his head and looked at the cereal box as if he could bring it to himself on sheer willpower. Tony wouldn’t put it past the boy so he paused and waited for something to happen for a few seconds and when nothing happened, Tony walked to grab the cereal and poured it into the boys bowl. 

Peter ate a lot slower this time so Tony sat next to him and decided to ask him questions. “So… do you remember anything about Hydra?” 

“Where bear is.” Peter said. Tony assumed that the boy meant his teddy bear that he had in his… room? If he had a room there. 

“Um, is your teddy bear in your room there?” Tony asked him and Peter nodded. “What else is in your room?” 

Peter squealed excitedly and turned to look at Tony. “Toys! My blue table an’ so many colours!” 

“Oh. So you like to draw?” Tony asked him. He was starting to wonder if he was possibly someone’s kid at Hydra since it possibly seemed like Peter was being treated fairly well. He definitely wouldn’t be bringing Peter back or letting any of those goons get their hands on the kid again. 

Peter nodded his hand. “Only when in my room. It’s good.” 

Tony nodded, only half understanding what Peter was saying. He decided to let him finish his cereal since he could ask him questions tomorrow. 

They sat in silence but it wasn’t an awkward silence. Peter tried to offer some of his Cheerios to Tony and it melted the man’s heart, this boy who looked like he was starving and didn’t have much, was offering some of his food to Tony. It was adorable and so sweet. 

“You ready to go back to your bed? You have to actually stay there and sleep this time.” Tony watched Peter jump off his chair so Tony started walking to the stairs but turned around when he didn’t hear Peter following him. 

He saw the kid standing there but he wasn’t sure what he was doing until there was a stream running down his legs and pooling under his feet. 

Peter looked up at Tony while he was peeing and Tony made eye contact and looked away until he was sure that the kid was done. He had absolutely no idea how to go about this situation. 

“Um… okay. Just stay there for a second.” Tony looked around the kitchen and spotted the paper towel and grabbed the whole roll. He placed a bunch on the floor by Peter’s feet and watched as it soaked up right away. It was disgusting and this definitely wasn’t what he was expecting when he decided to bring the kid to his hideout house. 

He piled a bunch into his hands and held it in front of Peter. “Can you lift your foot up?” 

Peter lifted his foot up so Tony quickly wiped it and pointed to a dry spot for him to step in. “Can you step here, kid?” 

Peter did as he was told so Tony cleaned his other foot as well. “Okay. We should change your shirt again even if it didn’t get wet, right?” 

“Yes.” Peter nodded his head and was looking up at Tony without a care in the world. He was acting so calm as if he hadn’t just peed all over his kitchen floor. 

Tony walked upstairs, making sure that Peter was following him this time. He led Peter into his room and while he went to get another clean shirt for Peter, the kid was crawling into his bed. 

“Um, kid. Come down. That’s my bed.” Tony cringed. He didn’t want any pee residue getting onto his bed but he was sure that it was too late now. 

Peter stared at him so Tony let it go. He walked towards the end of the bed and waited for Peter to crawl over to him. “I’m gonna change your shirt now.” 

Peter lifted up his arms like he had been doing from the start which made Tony wonder who helped the kid get dressed and undressed. He didn’t worry about that now though because he had another problem. 

“So do you know how to use the bathroom? Are you potty trained or… no?” Tony asked as he pulled the third shirt onto Peter but the kid looked confused so Tony tried to clarify it. “Where do you go pee?” 

Peter pointed to the bedroom door. “Go pee pee.” 

Tony nodded. “Yeah, where do you go pee pee? Because we don’t do that on the floor.” 

Peter sighed. Tony wasn’t sure if he was frustrated with not being able to understand or maybe he was tired. Tony didn’t know. 

“Okay. Well, if you need to go pee again then you can go into the bathroom. Or you can call me. Either is fine.” Tony slowly explained but Peter was looking at him confused and then his face scrunched up. 

“What’s wrong? Do you need to go pee again?” Tony freaked out since the child was currently sitting on his bed. 

A small burp escaped the boy's mouth and then his face was back to normal and Tony was laughing because what the hell was that? That was the quietest burp he had ever heard. 

“Alright. I think it’s time for bed. Again.” Tony began walking out of the room and waited for Peter to slide off the bed and follow him back to his temporary bedroom. “Climb in.” 

Peter did as he was told and curled into a ball on the bed so Tony covered the child with blankets and smiled down at him. “You stay here. You have to sleep but if you need anything then you can tell FRIDAY and she’ll get me, okay? Do you understand?” 

“Yes. Sleep now.” Peter shut his eyes and his index finger went into his mouth to comfort himself so Tony didn’t remove the finger no matter how odd it was for him to watch because Peter’s hands were dirty from touching around the house. 

Tony supposed that he’s immune to anything now since he probably did the same thing at Hydra and it was extremely unsanitary there so Peter’s body can fight off anything now. 

“Are you gonna stay?” Tony asked again just to be sure. Peter nodded his head with his eyes still closed so Tony turned the light off and shut the door halfway so that he could still hear the kid if Peter needed him but maybe it would stop Peter from leaving the room. 

Tony went down to his lab since he had a lot of research to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys liked that:) 
> 
> So Peter can in fact shoot webs from his body so he doesn’t need web shooters like he does in the movie. Tony definitely has his hands full haha


	4. Whatever you once was

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hii guys:) I’m back! I hope you guys like this chapter, we get to learn a bit of Peter in this but it’s just a bit 
> 
> WARNING: mentions is suicide. It’s short but just putting it out there just in case

Tony had been down in his lab for the past six hours and he had found a lot of information on the kid. 

It was almost surprising how easy it was for him to find everything on the kid. Almost every single detail of his short life had appeared in front of him. 

His name was Peter Benjamin Parker and was born August tenth. He was seven years old, like the boy told him. Peter was born to Mary and Richard Parker who were scientists in the Hydra base and they both willinging brought Peter in when he was only six months old into the base so they could run experiments on him. 

It was believed that Peter’s parents only had him so they could run their tests and experiments on him without having to kidnap someone else’s child. Tony sees red. If it’s true, which he knows it most likely is, then that poor child upstairs is only alive because his crazy parents wanted to run their little tests on the boy. 

Tony had to look away from his computer and take a few breaths. It’s not fair. Nothing about this situation is fair and Peter now has to suffer because of it. 

After Tony feels himself calm down just a bit, he turns on his chair to finish reading up on Peter. He finds two death certificates for Mary Parker and the other for Richard Parker. 

He doesn’t know why but that brings him joy. The monsters that hurt this kid are dead. He continued to read the death reports and found out that they committed suicide one night, four years ago when Peter was three years old. 

There are pictures of them hanging from a rope in the middle of some white room. In the picture they are holding hands and are hanging right beside each other. Tony finds that odd. 

The more he stares at the picture, the weirder things get. First of all, if two people were to hang themselves beside each other, they wouldn’t be holding hands since they would be jerking in the air too much. Second, there would have been no way for them to get that high up in the air without any sort of step stool or chair and there is nothing under them. 

To point out the most obvious fact is that there are fresh bruises on Mary’s arm as well as Richards face. Tony is almost certain that they were murdered and someone staged their deaths to make it look like suicides so someone really wanted them dead. 

Tony doesn’t feel all that bad for them because they did experiments on a child; their own child. He doesn’t know the real reason why anyone would want them dead but he could come up with a million scenarios. 

Peter was three years old at the time meaning that he may not remember his parents but he had to have someone else, possibly many people who were taking care of him. 

Tony can clearly see that someone was helping Peter get dressed and undressed because Peter lifts his arms up and expects Tony to help him but no one potty trained the kid. A bit odd. 

He looked up more files on his computer from the information that he stole off of the Hydra databases. He wants to find information on what experiments that they did to Peter. 

He definitely has some ideas about it but he doesn’t want to start making any guesses unless he knows for sure. 

“What do we have here.” Tony mumbled to himself as he pulled up a file that was labeled: Test Subject- Spider. 

He opened it and started reading it. 

At first, nothing made any sense. It was saying that the first testing started when Peter was a year old but he was already showing signs of the spider injections in him before that. 

Tony kept on reading, not understanding why the dates seemed to be mixed up. He was about to go find another file since this one was clearly wrong when he saw the date of the first injection and everything started to make more sense. 

They had started their experiments when Peter was still a fetus in the womb. 

Tony didn’t understand how someone could do that to their unborn child. Although it was obvious that Mary and Richard did it willingly which made it almost worse. 

Peter was born a mutant. 

He had been since he was a newborn baby. Tony checked the dates and what Peter was capable of. 

He read that Peter had a fast metabolism meaning that he had to eat three times as much as a child his age. He was extremely strong but Tony couldn’t find anywhere where they tested just how strong the child is which means that Peter might not even know what he can do. 

Tony continued on reading and read that Peter was able to shoot webs from his wrists at two years old and could climb walls at two and a half. That made sense now why Peter was calling himself sticky. 

The last thing he read on Peter’s file was that he was extremely fast. Tony didn’t know what that meant exactly and to what extent. He knew he would eventually find out though. 

The rest of the file was filled with doses and how Peter’s body reacted to it which Tony quickly glanced over but he would be looking at it more thoroughly another day. 

He tried to find out if Peter had any living family members but he couldn’t find anything. He didn’t know why part of him was happy about that, he knew he was horrible for wanting that but it was true. He liked knowing that no one would come snooping around for the kid and take him. 

Tony rubbed his eyes and yawned. He was exhausted but he didn’t have any time to go to sleep now. “FRI, what time is it?” 

“It is currently twelve in the afternoon.” FRIDAY announced and Tony sighed. He had been in his lab for over six hours and it’s not like he can go to bed now because then he would mess up his sleep schedule. Not that he had much of a sleep schedule to begin with. 

“Is the kid still sleeping?” Tony asked, already standing up and stretching. 

“Peter woke up eleven minutes ago.” FRIDAY said. 

“Okay. Shut down the lab and lock everything in my files, FRI.” Tony said before he was leaving the lab to go find the kid. Peter had slept for about six hours and Tony knew that that isn’t enough time for a child to sleep. 

He went upstairs and pushed open Peter’s temporary bedroom door. The kid was sitting on the floor and playing with a string on the shirt. Tony thought that was a bit odd but he didn’t question it. 

“Hey, kid.” Peter flinched when he heard his voice and let out a whimper. “Oh I’m sorry. Shit, kid. I didn’t mean to scare you.” 

Peter relaxed a bit at seeing who it was and then he stood up so that he was facing Tony. He lifted up his shirt again to rub his stomach. “So hungry.” 

“Okay, Uh… do you want another bowl of Cheerios for now?” Tony asked and the kid was nodding his head with a smile on his face. “I gotta order a bunch of stuff to the house for you.” 

Peter didn’t respond to him and Tony didn’t expect him to so the two of them made their way downstairs and into the kitchen, Peter jumping onto the previous stool he was sitting on just a few hours before and Tony going to pour a bowl of dry Cheerios, a glass of apple juice and coffee for himself. 

The two of them fell into the same pattern of last night, Peter ate his dry Cheerios as if his life depended on it and Tony helped him drink his apple juice so they didn’t spill anything like before. 

Tony had to go back to the tower for another briefing that he tried to get out of but he had to go. He would be gone for at least two hours since these things usually take awhile but he wasn’t sure if he should leave Peter for that long. He didn’t know what to do. 

It was still a few hours away so Tony decided not to stress about that right now since he had to get the kid in proper clothes before he does anything else. 

After two bowls of his cereal, Tony led Peter over to the couch and waited for him to sit down. The kid just stood in front of him so Tony pulled out his computer and placed it on his lap. 

He needed to order some clothes for the kid, he had no idea what size Peter was but he didn’t look like he would fit into seven year old sizes so he would have to try six year old sizes… maybe even five year olds. 

Peter watched Tony curiously with his wide brown eyes that held so much wonder. 

He slowly made his way over to the couch and crawled over to Tony so that he was sitting next to the man. He saw all the colours on the screen and he grabbed the computer off of Tony’s lap. 

“I have now.” Peter said as he grabbed the computer and watched Tony’s reaction. 

Tony had no idea what the kid was doing. He watched in surprise as Peter slowly took the computer off his lab and placed it on his own lap while watching Tony for his reaction. 

Tony looked at Peter but he couldn’t stop himself from smiling. “Excuse me? I was using that.” 

Peter mirrored Tony’s smile with a grin of his own. He shook his head. “Mine now.” 

Tony didn’t know what to do. This whole situation was hilarious, Peter was so… strange. He grabbed the computer off of Peter’s lap and placed it back on his own. “How about this, I hold it on my lap while you help me pick out some clothes that you might like? We need to get you out of my shirt.” 

Peter nodded his head but Tony wasn’t sure if he understood him or not. He wasn’t sure how much English Peter knew but he would test that out later. 

Tony went onto a children’s store and went into the section for boys ages three to ten. Peter would fit in there somewhere. 

“We need to get you some shirts first so let’s start there.” Tony pulled up the page and turned the computer so the kid could see it better. “Just point to whatever you like and I’ll add it to the cart.” Tony explained and looked at Peter who was looking at the screen with wonder in his eyes. 

“How about you pick out ten shirts? I think that’ll be good for now and if we need more, we can get you more.” Tony said, mainly to himself. 

Peter pointed to a red shirt that had a blue boat on it. “That one red.” 

Tony added it to the cart and smiled when Peter giggled at the sound that it made. It was such a cute and innocent sound. 

Peter ended up picking ten shirts out, short and long sleeves. Most of the shirts were red and had some blue in it and when Tony suggested that he get a different colour one, he scrunched his face up in disgust as if the suggestion personally offended him. 

The pants were harder to pick. 

“Where red, Tony?” Peter asked as he continued to hit Tony on the thigh to get his attention which Tony didn’t understand since he was giving Peter his full attention already. 

“There’s not a lot of red pants, bud. How about you get some blue jeans?” Tony pointed you some blue jeans on the screen and Peter nodded his head. 

“Yes. That ‘dare one red.” Peter pointed to some red track pants and smiled when Tony put them in the cart. It took Peter a lot longer to find some pants so Tony let him pick two more and then he just put some track pants into the cart that were a mixture of greys, blacks and red. 

Next was pyjamas. 

Peter was very particular about his pyjamas. He picked some that had fire trucks on it so Tony wondered if he knew what that was since he got excited when he saw it. The other ones had tiny stars on the pants and one giant star on the shirt which Peter loved. 

Tony picked some more and he was about to move onto underwear when Peter laid his head against Tony’s arm. 

Tony froze. 

He didn’t know how to react because it was so adorable but he didn’t want to scare the child away so he kept that arm completely still while he searched for some underwear for Peter. 

“Do you want to pick out some of these now?” Tony asked Peter but Peter was shaking his head and getting off the couch. “What is it?” 

Peter pointed to the kitchen. “Please?” 

“I don’t know what you want, buddy. You have to use your words.” Tony had an idea what the child wanted but he wanted to see if Peter could tell him. 

Peter groaned and pointed to the kitchen again, walking a bit towards it. “The yum. Please.” 

“Do you want Cheerios?” Tony asked him, smiling at how Peter called it ‘the yum’. 

Peter smiled and nodded excitedly. “Yes! Please.” 

“Can you say it? Say Cheerios.” Tony said the word slowly and waited for Peter to say it. He could see the wheels turning in the kids head. Tony had no idea why Peter wasn’t saying it now because he had said it before and Tony knows that he had to have asked for it a bunch of times at Hydra. 

“Cheerios and yummy water.” Peter bit his bottom lip as he smiled excitedly to himself and looked in the direction of the kitchen. 

“Oh! You want apple juice?” That made a lot more sense. Tony stood up, placing his computer to the side so he could get Peter what he wanted. 

The kid ran behind him and was giggling to himself while Tony poured him a bowl of his Cheerios and some apple juice into a glass. Tony knew he had to order some spill proof cups while he was at it. 

He helped Peter drink so he didn’t spill anything on himself and began to walk back towards the living room so he could finish. 

Tony kept glancing over his shoulder every so often just to make sure that Peter was still there and was okay. He could hear him giggling to himself which was a bit freaky but Tony figured that Peter didn’t have a lot of people to talk to at Hydra that would talk to him so he spoke to himself. He wasn’t sure though. 

Tony ordered underwear for Peter just so he could get it over with and the stuff could arrive at the tower sooner. Tony didn’t want to send the delivery to the house since he didn’t want anyone knowing where it was or that Tony Stark lived there. It was safer for Peter this way as well and right now, Peter’s safety was all Tony wanted. 

After he added underwear to the cart, Tony added some socks, shoes and a few sweaters and jackets. He hoped that everything fit Peter, if anything it would be a bit big but that’s okay since he could grow into it. 

Tony sent the delivery at the same time as he heard Peter climb off his stool so Tony turned around to see Peter standing there the same way he just stood there when he went pee on the floor. 

Tony tossed his computer onto the couch and quickly made his way over to Peter. “Do you need to pee?” 

Peter shook his head. “Poo poo.” 

“What? You need to poop?” Tony didn’t think he would ever ask that question to anyone in his life but here he was.

Peter nodded and looked like he was stressing. He reached a hand behind him to grab onto his bum through the shirt. Tony gestured for Peter to follow him because cleaning up pee was one thing but cleaning up poop was a whole other thing. 

“Come here. You’re gonna go in the toilet.” Tony said desperately and Peter began following him down the hallway and into the bathroom. 

Tony quickly pulled Peter’s shirt up and lifted him onto the toilet. He took a few steps back to give Peter some privacy while he was doing his business but Peter continued to look panicked. 

“You can go now, kid. You’re on the toilet.” Tony reassured him but he didn’t know why he had to. Surely Peter had toilets in Hydra although he wouldn’t put that past them to not let the kid use them or even show him how. 

Peter looked at him and shook his head. “Can’t.” 

“Yeah you can, bud. Just go. Look, I’ll leave the room so you can have some privacy.” Tony turned to leave the bathroom because he knew if he was in the kids position, he would definitely want to be left alone but Peter screamed after he went to walk out. 

“You stay!” Peter said desperately so Tony turned back into the bathroom and sat down on the step of the bathtub. 

“Okay… use the toilet then, Pete.” Tony waited for Peter to go. It was the strangest thing that he’s ever had to do; sit in the bathroom while someone else goes number two but Peter wanted him there so he would stay. 

Once he was sure Peter was done, he looked in his direction. “Are you done?” 

The child nodded his head but Peter still looked really scared about something for some reason. He didn’t know why since he didn’t think that he did anything to make the child scared but Tony couldn’t be sure. 

When Peter lifted his arms up to be picked up off the toilet, Tony lifted him onto the ground again and handed him some toilet paper. 

Peter grabbed it from him and held it in his hand so Tony sighed because he wasn’t sure what to do. “Wipe yourself, Peter.” 

Peter stared at him. Tony knew he had the responsibility to look after Peter. He knew what he was doing and what he was taking on when he flew him out of that forest and brought the kid to his house instead of the tower so Fury could deal with him, Tony knew what he was doing so having to wipe someone else’s butt was just part of that responsibility. 

He grabbed the toilet paper from Peter and made quick work of wiping the kid and washing his hands twice. He helped Peter wash his hands as well even though Tony was the one that did all the work. 

He then led Peter into the living room and sat him down on the couch because he had to know if this was going to be a reoccurring thing. 

“Did you use the toilet at Hydra, buddy?” Tony asked Peter who was sitting on the couch, facing him with his legs stretched out straight in front of him. 

Peter shook his head and started doing weird hand gestures but Tony figured that he was just playing by using his own fingers for entertainment. 

“How did you go to the bathroom then?” Tony asked, almost scared of the answer. 

“Bucket.” Peter simply said. He said it as if it was the most normal thing in the world and Tony wanted to punch someone for making this child go to the bathroom in a bucket for who knows how many years. 

“You-you went to the bathroom in a bucket?” Tony asked again just to make sure although he was pretty sure that that’s what Peter had to do. 

The child nodded his head. “Yes. Not toilet. Not allowed to.” 

Tony hated hearing that. How could someone give a bucket to a child and tell them to do their business in there. It wasn’t fair. It was neglect and Tony felt sick thinking about it. 

“That wasn’t very nice of them to make you do that. I promise you that you will never have to use a bucket for that ever again, okay? Never.” Tony promised the kid. He didn’t want Peter to ever have to experience that ever again. 

Peter didn’t say anything to him but that was okay. Tony knew he heard him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys liked that chapter:) I feel so weird because I’ve been writing this fic non stop and then I recently started my new fic that I didn’t post yet and I realized I haven’t written this fic for a full week like whatttt! So um gonna make time tmr to write it. 
> 
> Also I’m so mad because I’m getting tired at like 12:00-12:30am on most nights to the point where I can’t even write anymore and it’s so frustrating because then I go to bed and toss and turn all night. Also the past like 4 nights I’ve been waking up at 5am ish wide awake it so annoying


	5. A promise is a promise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiii guys I can’t believe it’s already May! April went by in like 10 min. I’m also posting a new fic tmr which I am in love with:)

Tony had an hour before he had to drive to the tower to go to his meeting. 

After his deep discussion with Peter, he had ordered a food delivery and a bunch of toys for Peter that he picked out all by himself. 

Tony couldn’t stop smiling when he watched Peter excitedly point to what toys he wanted. He picked lots of teddy bears that were all shapes and sizes. He picked some cars but only fire trucks and ambulances because according to Peter they were really pretty looking. 

Tony had to explain to him that it’ll take a day or two for all the toys to get to the house but Peter still didn’t understand why he couldn’t have his toys right now that Tony promised him. 

Peter was off sitting in the corner and playing with his empty cup of apple juice while Tony took the liberty to order a few more things for Peter and for the house. If the kid was going to be staying with him for a while then Tony needed to get a few things for him. 

He picked out a few more toys such as some balls and a small car that Peter could sit in and ride around the house in. As well as these mats in the shape of actual shapes that Peter could climb on without hurting himself instead of climbing on the walls and ceiling. 

He also ordered some essential items. A gate for the top and bottom of the stairs to stop Peter from jumping off of them, some spill proof cups for his apple juice and lots of plastic plates, bowls and utensils for the child. 

The bedroom was going to be a whole task in itself and Tony wanted Peter to have a say in what his bedroom looks like so he decided to leave that for now. 

“Hey, bud,” Tony said, standing up. “I have to go away for a few hours but I need you to stay here and be good.” 

Peter looked up at him and a small frown appeared on his face. “Tony leave?” 

Tony nodded. He felt horrible but he had to go to this meeting. “Yeah, but I promise I’ll come right back.” 

Peter stood up and stuck out his bottom lip. “How long you go for?” 

“Um, an hour or two and then I’ll be back and guess what.” Tony paused and waited for Peter to smile but he didn’t. “I’m going to bring a surprise home for you so you can look forward to that.” 

Peter puffed out a breath of air and sat back down. “Back in one?” 

“Uh, one hour yes. Or two.” Tony explained to Peter but he didn’t think that Peter actually knew what an hour was so he pointed to the clock on the wall in the living room. “Do you see that? It’s a clock and it tells the time.” 

Peter looked up at where Tony was pointing to. “When the small hand passes the number four once, that means one hour. I will be gone for at least two hours so it has to go around two times. Do you understand?” 

Peter pointed to the clock that Tony was referring to. “Take it down.” 

“No, kid. It stays up there but I have to go now. I’m gonna leave some food out for you and a glass of your apple juice.” Tony explained to him and then walked into the kitchen to do just that. Peter had followed him and was standing right next to his legs as he watched Tony do something on the countertop but he was too small to see what was happening. 

“I have two bowls of your Cheerios in case you get hungry.” Tony said and slid the bowls over to the spot where Peter had been sitting in. 

Peter walked around the kitchen island and watched Tony with curious eyes. He grabbed onto the edge of the counter top and lifted himself up a bit so he could see what was happening. 

“What you doing?” Peter asked him then let go of the counter to follow Tony. 

“I’m making sure you have food to eat while I’m gone.” Tony explained to the child. He felt really bad for leaving him but he had no other choice. He couldn’t exactly bring Peter with him and this was the only other option. 

Tony walked to the front door and slid on his shoes while Peter had squatted down and watched him. “You go?” 

“Yeah, kid. I’m gonna leave for a bit but I’ll be back. I promise.” Tony held out his pinky for the kid because kids liked doing that stuff, right? Maybe if Peter was a normal kid then he would know what Tony’s doing but instead Peter stared at his pinky. “Look, wrap your baby finger around my finger and then that’s a promise that we can’t ever break. No matter what.” 

Peter slowly raised his much smaller hand up to Tony’s and every so slowly sticks out his baby finger. Tony smiled and wrapped his finger around Peter’s. “There. A pinky promise. Now you know that I’ll come back for you no matter what.” 

Peter nodded. “No matter what.” 

“Exactly. You got it.” Tony stood up fully and opened the front door. He saw Peter peek around him so he could look out as well. “Don’t leave the house. It’s not safe right now.” 

Peter nodded but still looked like he was going to leave. Tony hoped Peter listened to him but Tony didn’t think that Peter would even know how to open the front door since there were a ton of locks on it. 

After Tony left, Peter stayed in the position that he was in for a few minutes. Maybe if he waited then Tony would come back to him faster. 

“Tony. Come.” Peter said desperately for no one to hear. He wanted his new best friend to come back. 

Peter let out a puff of air and stood up. He then remembered what Tony told him about the clock and how it had to go around two times then he would be home. 

The seven-year old ran over to the wall and stopped just below it before he placed his hands on it then his feet and started climbing. He loved climbing onto walls because no one else could do it and that’s why Hydra loved him so much. He was special, they would say. 

Once Peter reached the clock, he picked it off of the wall and looked down on the ground. He was really high up. Heights didn’t scare him, he loved being up high but he’s never been so high up with something so big in his arms. 

Peter tried to balance himself with one hand and crawl down but he was at an awkward angle so he accidentally dropped the clock and tried to reach for it in the air but that caused him to lose his stickiness on the wall and fall off, landing hard on the floor. 

Peter lifted his head up off the ground from where he fell and he let out a whimper. “Ow. Bad wall! I fall.” 

The clock was lying in front of him so Peter crawled over to it and stretched his legs out in front of him. His side was hurting him from the fall but the pain would go away soon. 

He grabbed the clock, placing it on his lap and grabbing the hand that Tony told him to grab. He spun it around once and then twice then he was standing up excitedly to go wait by the door for Tony to come home. 

.  
.  
.

Tony was losing his mind. 

This is why he hated meetings that involved the Avengers and Fury. Everyone felt like they had the power to speak and they really did but Tony hated that. 

It made the meetings last twice as long as they should since everyone was fighting over the power to speak. Plus Tony was used to being in control. 

He resisted the urge to bang his head against the table. He wasn’t even listening to what anyone was saying since he did not care. He was more focused on Peter and what the kid was doing back at the house. 

He hoped Peter was staying out of trouble. 

“Stark. I’m sorry, are we boring you. Because if that’s the case then how about you go take up residency on that couch over there and catch up on some sleep.” Fury snapped at him but Tony didn’t care. 

In fact, that option sounded a lot better than what he was doing right now which was nothing. “I might just take you up on that.” 

“Tony, this is serious.” Steve said so Tony turned on his chair to look at the man. Steve looked like he was having an emotional talk with someone so Tony was kinda regretting what was being said in the meeting to begin with. 

“Can we recap?” Tony swiveled on his chair and asked. “Just the last five minutes if you lovelies don’t mind.” 

Fury sat down in his chair at the head of the table and leaned back. “Alright, Stark. Would anyone like to fill our star student in on what is going on?” 

Natasha spoke up. “The Hydra base that we took down yesterday, there was some security footage that we found.” 

Tony sat up straighter. Video footage. There was supposed to be none of that. He didn’t know why he felt the sudden urge to race back to the house to protect Peter right now but if Peter was caught on that footage then the Avengers, Fury and anyone else who got their hands on it wouldn’t be stopping until they found the kid. 

Natasha continued. “We watched it over and found evidence of The Winter Soldier having been there. We aren’t certain that it’s him but we’re pretty sure-” 

Steve was cutting Natasha off. “It’s him. I know it’s him.” 

Everyone turned to look at Steve who was looking down at the table. Tony knew that Steve and The Winter Soldier had history and went way back. He can’t imagine the guy being there where Peter was and for what reason but if The Winter Soldier was there then maybe they were training Peter to be like him. An assassin. 

A shiver ran up Tony’s spine then he turned to look at Natasha again. “What else is on those tapes?” 

“Nothing. The quality it shit and we could only salvage about seven minutes of it but we were able to see him on it.” Natasha explained. 

“Him? The Winter Soldier?” Tony asked, just to make sure. There was no way they were talking about Peter and he knew that. He knew that. 

Natasha eyed him but then Fury was laughing. “No, Stark. The mailman. Of course The Winter Soldier.” 

Tony ignored Fury as he stared back at Natasha who was staring at him. He knew that she could read anyone like an open book, including himself. Tony liked to think that he mastered his emotions and how he felt but Natasha was an exception. 

“Well, if we’re done here then I would like to watch the footage. Shall we?” Tony stood up and gestured for Natasha to come with him. 

“No we are not done here. Come back, Stark, and sit your ass down.” Fury demanded but Tony was already out the door. 

“Sorry, you guys carry on but I’m done.” Tony held the door open for Natasha and then closed it and began walking down the hallway with her. “So where is it?” 

“Why are you in such a rush to leave, Tony?” She asked him like she already knew the answer and that scared Tony. 

“I hate those meetings. You know I do.” He lied, although it was partly the truth. 

She hummed but didn’t say anything else and led him into an office and sat down on the chair. Tony pulled up another chair and sat beside her then watched as she quickly typed away at some passwords then a file was pulled up. 

“I’m surprised Fury gave you access to all this.” Tony commented. 

“Oh please.” She scuffed. “I was the one who found the video to begin with. It was locked up with about a million fire locks.” 

“Why didn’t anyone call me?” Tony asked. He could have done this in minutes and he’s sure that it took everyone else a full day which is why the meeting was right now and not earlier. 

Natasha glared at him. “Are you serious? FRIDAY said you weren’t on your floor or in your lab and you drove to the tower so where are you staying, Stark? We know you’re not back together with Pepper so you aren’t hiding away with her again.” 

“You don’t know anything about my personal life.” Tony knew that Natasha knew a lot just because he told her a lot which he was starting to regret right about now. “I could be with her. You don’t know.” 

Natasha rolled her eyes. “Please. You disappeared after our mission and now you’re out gallivanting who knows where with who knows who and you’re in a rush to leave.” 

Tony looked away from her. He knew that she knew something but he wasn’t sure if she knew about Peter. If anyone had to know he would want it to be her but he would prefer if she didn’t know so he could keep Peter safe. 

“Well are you gonna show me or not because otherwise you’re useless.” Tony looked away from her. He was feeling way too vulnerable. 

It took a few seconds for Natasha to answer but after she was done eyeing Tony, she clicked play on the video. 

The video quality was shit. 

It was as if someone was holding a dirty screen up to the camera’s lenses. Tony tried to make out what was happening but that was kinda hard. 

A dark figure then moved into the frame and Tony leaned closer to get a good look at the man. It was no doubt The Winter Soldier because you could clearly see his metal arm even through the shitty footage. 

“That’s definitely him.” Tony observed. 

“I know.” 

“What?” Tony reached over to pause the video to look at her. “Then why did you say you weren’t certain?” 

“Because Tony,” She started. “Steve is close to Barnes. You know that. And so we didn’t want to get his hopes up. Just in case there was a slight chance that this man isn’t who we think he is.” 

Tony nodded. “Alright so we keep pretending it’s not him so Steveo doesn’t cry himself to sleep every night again.” 

“What do you mean again? Wait, you know what? It doesn’t matter.” Natasha pressed play on the video once again. 

The two of them watched The Winter Soldier creep through the hallways of the building but nothing was making sense. After the video ended, Tony quickly glanced at his watch and saw that he had twenty more minutes before he had to leave. 

“This makes no sense. Barnes is supposed to be there so why is he creeping through the halls like he’s some kind of rat? It doesn’t make sense.” Tony said. It just didn’t make any sense. He knew where The Winter Soldier came from and who created him into the assassin that he is so he didn’t understand. 

Natasha closed off the file. “Yeah. We don’t know. We don’t think he’s supposed to be there, hence the creeping around but what doesn’t make any sense is that he’s not doing anything, he just walks around the building like he’s looking for something.” 

“Or someone.” Tony thought out loud. He thought about Peter. 

“Maybe.” 

Tony looked at the date in the corner of the screen. “Is that date right?” 

“Yes. It was exactly a week before we went in. There was no trace of him after that so we don’t know what happened after he left. If he did leave.” Natasha shut the computer off and turned on her chair to look at Tony. “Tony, is there anything you know that you aren’t telling us?” 

“Seriously? What could I possibly know that you guys don’t already know? If you haven’t noticed but pirate over there doesn’t like me very much.” 

Natasha smiled slightly but then straightened up. “You seem to be working by yourself here. You disappeared for twenty minutes on the mission and then claimed that your comms were compromised but we all know that Tony Stark wouldn’t design something so shitty.” 

Tony shrugged. She had him there but he’s sure that he never said his comms were compromised. Either way she was definitely onto him. 

“I’m working the same mission you guys are working. You just aren’t keeping in the loop.” Tony gestured to the computer that they just watched the video on. 

Natasha didn’t take her eyes off of him. “What do you know, Tony?” 

“I know a lot, just not any information that will be valuable to you so if you’ll excuse me.” Tony stood up and went to walk out of the office but he stopped. “You said this was the only part of the video that you could salvage, where’s the rest?” 

Natasha stood up and walked over to the small desk in the corner of the room, opened up a drawer and pulled out a USB chip. She held it up in front of him. “I’ll give this to you only if we stay here and watch it.” 

Tony didn’t have time for that. He pinky promised Peter that he would be back in two hours and he still had to load his car with the food delivery and anything that came. 

“I can’t stay.” 

Natasha put her hand down with the USB. “Then you can’t have this.” 

“No one else can get to whatever footage might be on there but me so how about you give it to me and if I can salvage anything, you’re the first person I call and I tell you everything?” Tony held his hand out for the chip. He needed to leave now. 

“So you’ll admit you do know something that you’re not telling us?” Natasha asked as she handed him the USB. 

Tony put it in his pocket and turned to leave. “You may be hearing from me.” 

Tony left the office and started walking to his private elevator that only him and a handful of people could use. He went to his floor and found the grocery delivery as well as the clothes that he ordered. The toys still didn't come which sucked but at least Peter could wear proper clothes now. 

Tony loaded everything into his car as quickly as he could which ended up taking way longer than he thought because he had so much stuff. 

He checked the time and saw that he had ten minutes to drive to the house in order to be on time. He had to do a twenty minute drive in ten minutes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys!! So I got this swing thing for outside like not one of the baby ones that it sounds like but like an outdoor swing and the box that it came in was huge so I was like oh I’m gonna use it to slide down my stairs and at the bottom of my basement stairs there’s still wall and I broke the wall omg so foot kinda went through it and it broke so I was trying to tape it up and my bunny was running around my ankles and it was a mess but I fixed it but it’s so noticeable. My mom still hasn’t noticed so let’s hope she doesn’t
> 
> These are the sippy cups: 
> 
> https://target.scene7.com/is/image/Target/GUEST_86fc7cf1-f389-40b5-98f3-9357012ff766?wid=488&hei=488&fmt=pjpeg
> 
> Play mats: 
> 
> https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/715PKuBLd2L._SR500,500_.jpg


	6. All I’ll ever need is you but I don’t know it yet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so I didn’t edit this chapter simply because I have a bit of a headache and I’m too lazy to do that so oops if there are any errors or anything

By the time Tony arrived back at the house, he was one minute early. One minute early. 

He knew it didn’t matter if he was late because Peter couldn’t tell time, well, he assumed Peter couldn’t tell time but he knew within himself that if he was late then that meant that he broke their pinky promise. Their first pinky promise and he couldn’t do that. 

Tony unlocked the front door and opened it, he was about to call Peter over but he saw the child sitting right there on the small step leading up to the rest of the house. 

“Hi Peter. What’re you doing there?” Tony shut the door and kneeled down in front of Peter who was grinning at him. 

“I Wait.” Peter bit his bottom lip while he grinned and Tony thought it was adorable. He could definitely get used to coming home to that. 

“For me?” Tony pointed you himself to ask and Peter started nodding his head excitedly. 

Peter then stood up and grabbed onto Tony’s hand. “Come. I show you.” 

Tony grabbed the child’s hand, standing up and letting Peter pull him through the house. Peter pulled him over to the kitchen stools and stopped. 

Tony thought he was showing him that he ate both bowls of cereal and the apple juice was gone as well. “Oh good job, buddy. You are and drank everything.” 

Peter tapped him on the stomach and shook his head. “No. I do.” 

Peter pointed to the ground and Tony saw a puddle on the floor. He scrunched his face up and hoped it wasn’t what he thought that was. “What’s that? Did you spill your apple juice?” 

Peter smiled at him and shook his head. “Pee pee.” 

“Okay.” Tony looked away. Maybe he couldn’t get used to that part of coming home everyday. “You didn’t go in the toilet like I told you to?” 

Peter shook his head, his curls bouncing. “No. Don’t know how and you not here.” 

“It’s okay, bud. I’ll clean it up.” Tony started walking back towards the front door. He really didn’t want to clean up pee again even if it was only a kids pee. As if that makes it any better although Tony supposed it does. He just didn’t understand why Peter went to the bathroom in the same spot he went before as if he was some dog. 

“Go again?” Peter asked and Tony knew that Peter could pronounce his words properly, he just didn’t speak in full sentences but he figured that he could correct the kid and hopefully that’ll expand his language skills. 

“I’m not going anywhere. Just out to the car to get some surprises for you.” Tony winked at the child but then Peter was running ahead of him. 

“Big black car that goes zroom.” Peter bounced on his feet and looked up at Tony with pure childish excitement. 

Tony smiled down at him. “Yeah, bud. Do you want to come out with me?” 

Tony preferred it if Peter stayed inside at all times but the car was less than ten feet away from the house so he could come out with him. Plus Tony would be with him the whole time so it would be okay. 

“Yes. I do.” Peter ran to the front door and tried to peek out but there weren't any windows for him to look out at his level. 

Tony unlocked the door but he paused before he opened it fully, “You have to stay right next to me the whole time. Do you understand me?” 

Peter’s smile dropped a bit but he nodded his head. 

“Can you use your words please.” Tony told him. He was getting good at this. 

Peter opened his mouth then shut it. He seemed to ponder about it for a few seconds before opening his mouth to speak again. “I listen good.” 

“You listen well. That’s good, buddy.” Tony praised him then opened the door and walked outside first. It was starting to get dark out so Tony wanted to bring everything inside as quickly as possible. “Stay next to me.” 

Peter started to wander a bit but immediately went back to Tony’s side when Tony told him to. Tony could see Peter looking towards the forest with wide, worried eyes. 

Tony was partly glad that Peter wasn’t curious about the forest because that would not be a good thing. He opened up the trunk and Peter looked at all the boxes. 

“It big?” Peter asked, pointing to the boxes. 

“Are the boxes big you mean?” At Peter’s nod, Tony answered him. “Some of them are, yeah. Can you help me carry some in?” 

Peter started jumping. “Yes. I can do!” 

Tony looked around. He didn’t see anyone but that didn’t mean that there wasn’t anyone watching them. He grabbed one of the smaller boxes and handed it to Peter. “Can you carry that inside?” 

Peter grabbed the box with a smile and ran inside. Tony grabbed his own box and followed him then they were doing that over and over again until there was one box left. 

Tony picked it up but it was really heavy so he shook his head when Peter held out his arms for the box. “Sorry, bubs. This one is way too heavy for you.” 

Peter frowned. “No. I strong. Remember? So strong.” 

Tony eyed the child for a few seconds. The box was really heavy for a seven year old to carry but Peter was no normal seven year old. “Alright. Let’s see how strong you are.” 

Peter grinned and took the box from Tony, carrying it inside with no struggle. Tony couldn’t believe it. He wondered just how strong Peter really was. 

After closing the trunk and going back inside, double locking the front door, Tony picked up one of the food boxes and Peter did the same. 

“We gotta go put all the food away, kid.” Tony explained then the two of them did that. 

Peter looked at all the food items with wide eyes so Tony was certain that he hadn’t seen any of these foods before. There were strawberries, oranges, apples, bananas, and so much more fruit. As well as the juices and snacks. 

Peter pulled out a box of gummies out of the delivery box and looked up at Tony with wide eyes from where he was squatted on the ground. 

“What these, Tony?” Peter asked curiously. 

“Oh. Those are called Welches. Maybe after dinner we can eat some.” Tony had no idea what he was going to cook yet but the practice would be nice since he had a feeling he was going to be doing this for awhile. 

Peter nodded his head. “Uh huh!” 

The two of them continued to dig through the boxes of food and put things away. Peter would pull something out and look at it excitedly then Tony would tell him what it was. 

He got really excited at pulling out the bag of marshmallows and even put it on the floor and put his head on it. Tony melted at the scene. 

So they were working together and Peter loved it. After he would pull something out of the box and Tony would tell him what the item was, Tony would put the food or drink away and Peter would watch with wide eyes where everything went. 

They were at their last item to put away and when Tony went to grab it, Peter hugged it protectively against this chest. “I put away.” 

“Okay. Let’s see… it goes in the cabinet so, can you reach that high?” Tony knew Peter could climb up but he didn’t want the child to do that. “Can I pick you up?” 

Peter nodded his head so Tony placed his hands under Peter’s armpits and lifted him up so he could put the cracker box away. 

“Good job, Pete! Look at you.” Tony didn’t put Peter down immediately. He held him kinda awkward with one arm around his stomach and held the kid against his chest. 

Peter didn’t seem to mind being held, in fact he was actually smiling at Tony and clapped his hands together. 

Tony put him on the floor and kneeled down in front of him. “I have more surprises. How about we go look in the other boxes?” 

“Yeah!” Peter squealed and ran towards the other boxes that were at the front door. He picked one up and looked at Tony for direction. “Where go?” 

“Let’s go open it up over there.” Tony pointed to the living room before grabbing two boxes himself and following the kid. 

Peter was practically vibrating with excitement and Tony couldn’t help but wonder if Peter ever got to experience being excited about something in Hydra. It was possible that the only thing Peter was able to get excited about was eating his Cheerios. 

Tony opened one of the boxes and Peter copied him with his own box then he peeked inside and looked up at Tony confused. “What this? Maybe blanket.” 

Tony smiled at Peter’s guess. Obviously Peter didn’t know what clothes were, he probably lived in that outfit that Tony found him in. “It’s clothes. So we can get you out of my shirt and into some new clothes that will actually fit you properly. Do you remember we picked it out together?” 

Peter nodded his head but Tony wasn’t sure if he actually understood the question or was just nodding his head because Tony spoke. 

He reached into the box and pulled out a blue shirt in one hand and a red shirt in the other. He smiled at the red shirt, placing the blue one back into the box. 

Tony thought that it looked a bit big for him but that was okay since he would grow into it. 

“Yeah. You like it?” Peter nodded so Tony dug into his box and pulled out a pair of red track pants, a package of socks, and a package of underwear. “Let’s get you dressed and see if it fits you comfortably.” 

“Okay.” Peter said then lifted up his arms, standing in front of Tony. 

Tony knew that he should technically be changing Peter into pyjamas but he still had to give the kid a shower so he could change him after that and after they both eat. 

Tony lifted the oversized shirt off Peter’s body and then he noticed that there was a large cut on his stomach that was most definitely not there earlier. “What’s this? Did you hurt yourself?” 

Tony examined the cut closer as Peter let out a whine and pointed to the wall. “I climb up and fall down.” 

Tony followed Peter’s gaze and saw that the clock was no longer on the wall but was laying on the floor, showing it was two hours ahead. He turned back to look at Peter. “You can’t climb walls, Peter. It’s not safe.” 

What Peter did next, Tony was not expecting. The child stomped his foot and screamed, “No!” 

Tony had to move his head further away from Peter because that kid had quite the set of lungs on him. Ouch. 

“Peter.” Tony warned. “You don’t yell at me. It’s rude.” 

Peter glared at Tony for a few seconds and Tony wondered what he was thinking. He wondered if Peter could over power him but he had no idea just how strong the kid was so he wasn’t sure. 

After a few seconds, Peter sighed and stuck out his bottom lip. “I am sorry. I bad.” 

“No, bud. You’re not bad it’s just you can’t talk to me that way. Okay?” When Peter nodded just head, Tony smiled at him to show Peter that he wasn’t angry at him and then he was grabbing the red shirt to put it on Peter. 

Peter immediately put his arms up and after it was on, the kid looked down at it and grinned. It was a tad too big but otherwise it was perfect and Peter seemed to think so too. 

Tony then opened up the package of underwear and held one out but Peter just stared at him. “Step into it, bud.” 

Peter did as he was told but as soon as Tony pulled it up on him, his face scrunched up and he shook his head and tried to pull it back down. “No. Don’t like it.” 

“You have to, bud. You can’t walk around commando anymore.” Tony explained to him and tried to pull it back up but Peter stopped him and let out a whine. 

“No. I don’t like it.” Peter pushed Tony’s hands away so Tony stopped so he didn’t upset the boy. 

He watched as Peter took it off and gently placed it on the ground then looked at Tony with tears in his eyes. Tony didn’t understand why Peter didn’t want to wear it but then he understood. Peter had probably never worn underwear his whole entire life and he was used to having loose clothes on him but the underwear definitely wasn’t that loose, it was constricting so of course Peter wouldn’t like it. 

Tony would let it slide for now but he wouldn’t make it a habit. It was just something they had to work on. On top of the many other things. 

“If you don’t want to wear your underwear now then you don’t have to but next time you do, okay?” Tony explained to him as he grabbed the track pants and held them out for Peter to step into. 

Peter looked unsure at first but he didn’t complain or try to take them off which was good. 

Forgetting about the socks for now, Tony stood up. “Let’s go clean your cut and put a bandage on it and then we’ll eat some dinner.” 

Peter followed Tony into the bathroom but on the way, Tony stepped on a Cheerio and then looked down to see a pile of them all over the floor. He looked ahead and there was a trail of Cheerios leading to the bathroom. 

“What is this?” Tony asked, mainly to himself. He was about to take another step when he saw another puddle on the floor. “Peter, is this more pee?” 

Peter shook his head and squatted down to put his hand in the puddle. “It apple juice.” 

Tony just stared at him. He had no idea what Peter was doing when he was gone. The clock was taken off the wall and there was a trail of cereal and juice down the hallway which also meant that Peter didn’t eat. 

Tony sighed, another thing for him to clean up after Peter goes to bed. “Okay. Let’s just go clean your cut up.” 

Peter continued to follow Tony into the bathroom and Tony grabbed out the first aid kit and kneeled down in front of the kid, lifting his shirt up. 

“Wait, what?” Tony lifted Peter’s shirt up higher to try and find the cut but it was gone. What the hell. 

All that was left was a smear of blood that Tony wiped away with an alcohol wipe. He rubbed his thumb over where the cut once was but it wasn’t there. 

He had no idea how that was possible. It simply wasn’t so it got him wondering if there was even a cut there to begin with. Of course there was, he saw it and there was blood. 

It just healed really fast. Insanely fast. 

Tony stood back up after dropping Peter’s shirt. “Okay then. Uh, let’s just go back to the kitchen now.” 

He made a mental note to look into that later on. 

Tony couldn’t eat with a puddle of pee on the floor so he quickly cleaned that up and disinfected the area before he got to cooking. 

He decided on Mac and cheese for tonight since he actually had zero idea how to cook anything else plus he didn’t have the patience to cook anything big right now because he wanted to tidy up the house and Peter proof it. 

Peter was sitting on the kitchen stool and watching Tony the whole time. Tony would talk to him and tell him what he was doing just to have some kind of conversation between them and to hopefully help build Peter’s English. 

“Do you want to come help me stir the pot now?” Tony asked the kid. He wanted Peter to be a part of it since he could see him zoning out. 

Peter grinned then got off the stool and walked over to Tony. Tony hesitated. “Can I pick you up?” 

“Yes.” Peter lifted his arms up to help Tony so Tony grabbed Peter by the underarms and set him on his hip. The position was extremely awkward at first but once Peter relaxed, Tony found that it was actually nice. He kinda liked holding the kid. 

“It’s very hot so we can’t touch it. We never touch the stove or the oven. See how I’m using a spoon?” Tony asked Peter and Peter nodded, a small smile on his lips. “Here, you try.” 

Peter slowly reached out and grabbed the wooden spoon then began stirring it just like he saw Tony doing it. “Smells yum.” 

“It smells yummy.” Tony corrected him and Peter nodded. 

“It smells yummy.” The child repeated. 

After the pasta was ready, Tony placed Peter on the floor and dumped out the water, stirring in the cheese mix and milk and then pouring out two bowls. 

He set the bowl on the counter for the two of them, Peter immediately climbing back up to smell it and look inside. 

Tony half watched him while he was pouring apple juice into a glass but he stopped, Peter couldn’t drink out of a glass and then Tony remembered all the stuff he ordered for Peter that he knew the kid needed such as non spill cups. 

“I’ll be right back.” Tony told Peter and started walking towards the front door but Peter was jumping off his chair and following Tony. 

He jumped in front of Tony and looked up at him. “Where go?” 

“I’m not going anywhere, buddy. I’m staying with you.” Tony reassured him. “Look, can you carry this box into the kitchen for me?” 

For some reason Peter loved helping out. Tony has no idea why. Maybe it was because he didn’t get to do anything in Hydra and so helping Tony with the same task that he is doing makes Peter feel important. Tony doesn’t know but it’s adorable either way. 

Placing it on the ground, Peter turned to look up at Tony with a question forming so Tony stayed quiet so Peter could speak. “I open it?” 

Tony kneeled down next to him. “Say, can I open it?” 

“No.” Peter said then tugged on the box, a whine escaping his lips. 

Tony wasn’t expecting that. He wasn’t even sure Peter understood what he was saying no to. “No? What do you mean no?” 

“I say no. I open it now?” Peter asked with more demand in his voice. 

Tony thought about letting it slide since Peter obviously had no idea what he was saying but Tony knew that by letting it slide this time, he is encouraging that tone of voice and attitude next time and the last thing he wanted was a spider child with attitude on his hands. 

“You don’t speak that way to me, Peter. It’s not nice and I don’t like it.” Tony looked him in the eyes while he spoke. Peter looked at him with furrowed eyebrows and then smacked the box and let out a whimper. 

“M’sorry. I bad. I so bad.” Peter looked down and moved away from the box to hug himself in a ball. 

Tony immediately felt bad but he knew that was just how Peter was reacting to what he said. He was quick to reassure him though. “No, bubs. You aren’t bad. You’re very good but you just can’t speak to me that way. Do you understand?” 

Peter puffed out a breath of air and nodded his head then looked up at Tony again and back to the box then up at him as if he wanted to ask to open the box again but was too scared to. 

Tony smiled at him. “Yes you can open the box.” 

Peter made a strange noise that Tony’s never heard before and then he was opening the box and peaking in. He reached in and grabbed a red sippy cup that Tony ordered for him. 

“For me?” Peter asked, turning the cup over in his hands to figure it out. 

“Yep. I’m gonna wash it and then fill it with some apple juice so you don’t spill it.” Tony said. He took the cup from Peter’s hand and washed it while Peter continued to dig inside the box. 

There were more sippy cups inside as well as plastic plates and bowls for him just in case it was needed. Tony didn’t know but he always went above and beyond. 

After the cup was washed and filled they both sat down and began eating but Tony could see Peter sitting there and staring into his bowl. 

“It’s hot so you gotta blow on it. See.” Tony blew into his own bowl with Peter watching and then Peter did the same thing into his own bowl. “Good job, buddy.” 

The two of them finished their dinner, Tony having to show Peter how to use the fork and how to drink out of his sippy cup but besides that, dinner was a huge success. Peter loved Mac and cheese which Tony was thankful for. 

Tony checked the time and saw that it was just past nine at night. Since last night was a weird day, there was no way Peter went to bed on time but tonight Tony knew he could get Peter to bed on time but he had no idea what time seven year olds went to sleep. 

“FRIDAY, what time should a seven year old go to bed?” Tony asked as he put the bowls in the sink. Peter was still holding onto his cup. 

“Children Peter’s age should be in bed between seven and nine at night.” FRIDAY replied and Tony couldn’t help but feel defeated. 

It was 9:15pm and he still had to get Peter in the shower and into bed. He was already failing. 

“Geez. Okay. Peter, it’s time for a shower.” Tony said to the boy and smiled when Peter started bouncing on his feet. 

“I do happy. It gonna be warm. No cold.” Peter explained excitedly and then grabbed onto Tony’s hand to walk up the stairs. 

Tony felt his heart melt, as simple as the action was; it just showed how much Peter trusted him and Tony loved that. 

Once they got inside the bathroom, Peter was already lifting his arms above his head so Tony could take his shirt off which Tony made quick process of doing and then did the same with his pants. 

He tossed the clothes into the laundry hamper since they had to be washed anyways but also because they had Mac and cheese stains on it now. 

“Turn on now.” Peter tugged on Tony’s shirt to say but when Tony looked at him, Peter let go and looked down. “M’sorry. I say on, okay?” 

Tony kneeled down in front of Peter because it dawned on him that Peter didn’t know what please meant. Of course no one was saying that to him at Hydra. “That’s okay, Peter. If you want me to do something for you then you say please. Say, Tony, can you please turn the shower on for me.” 

Peter looked at him and nodded his head then pointed to the shower desperately but Tony shook his head. “No, try it.” 

“Tony. On shower please for me.” Peter tried. Tony could see that he was trying and he couldn't say no to that. 

“Yes, Peter.” Tony said and Peter grinned and watched excitedly as Tony turned the shower on and set it to the right temperature. 

Peter got in after Tony turned it on and stood under the spray of water. Giggling when it would run down his arms and fall off his fingertips like he had magic powers. 

Tony stepped away because he didn’t want to stand there and watch the kid but he wanted him to have some fun before Tony washed his hair. “Pete, I’m gonna leave the bathroom to go downstairs but I’ll be back up in five minutes, okay?” 

Peter stopped giggling and turned to look at Tony. “Five times around the clock?” 

“No, bud. Just five minutes.” Tony said to him. They stared at each other for a few seconds and then Peter was walking towards him in the shower. 

“I come with.” Peter said but Tony stopped him. 

“No, bud. You stay here. Look,” Tony grabbed a clean washcloth and soaked in under the shower water then pointed to the red bottle. “can you pass me the red bottle?” 

Peter grabbed it for Tony and watched Tony pour a decent amount onto the cloth then hand it to him. “Remember last time? You rub that all over your body like you did before and then when I come back up, I’ll clean your hair.” 

Peter started cleaning his arms so Tony smiled at him then left. 

He quickly went downstairs so he could clean up the mess that Peter made when he was gone. He had no idea why Peter decided to dump his cereal and juice but it didn’t surprise him. 

It was an odd thing to do and Tony didn’t know much about kids but he was pretty sure that kids do these things, right? Either way it was weird. 

He grabbed two out of the many boxes and carried them up to Peter’s bedroom and then went back down to grab the other two boxes of clothes, bringing them to Peter’s bedroom. 

He knew he had to get some stuff for the kids room if he was going to be staying with him for a bit but Tony wanted to do that with Peter so the kid had a say in it. 

When Tony went back into the bathroom, he peeked in the shower and saw that Peter was squatting down and squeezing a bottle of body wash onto the shower floor then rubbing his hand in it. 

“Pete, what’re you doing, bud?” Tony asked, confused. 

Peter looked up at him and smiled. “Feels funny.” 

Tony looked at the pile of soap on the floor and how Peter was slapping his hand into the pile. It probably did feel a bit odd to Peter who most likely never felt something like that before. 

“I bet it does but, bud, we have to use the soap to clean our bodies. We don’t dump it on the floor because then it’s a waste.” Tony slowly explained to Peter. He could obviously afford to have Peter dump all the soap onto the shower floor but he didn’t want to make that a habit. 

“Oh. I don’t do it no more.” Peter started pushing the soap towards the drain of the shower and then looked over at Tony to see if he was mad at him. 

“That’s okay. Did you clean yourself?” Tony asked and Peter nodded so he pointed to the bottle of shampoo. “Good job. Can you bring the yellow one over?” 

Peter stood up and grabbed the yellow bottle then handed it to Tony. He grabbed onto Tony’s hand and attempted to bring Tony’s hand closer to his face.

“I smell.” Peter said so Tony let Peter smell the soap and then Peter was smiling. “Mmm yummy.” 

“Yeah,” Tony laughed. He rubbed the soap on his hands and then started to soap Peter’s hair just like he did last night. Peter seemed to really like it too and it made Tony wonder if anyone ever did this with him. He knew that Peter had cold showers and obviously didn't know how to clean himself so Tony wondered if anyone helped him. 

He hoped not. The thought of one of those men touching the kid made him sick. He supposed he could just ask Peter but he didn’t want to take Peter out of his relaxed state. 

Tony could also tell that Peter didn’t use actual shampoo bottles to clean himself with because he was intrigued with the gel like soap so it was obviously new to him. 

After Tony was done, taking longer than necessary for Peter to enjoy the comfort, Peter sat down like he did before and held his foot out to Tony. 

“Feeties.” Peter smiled and Tony couldn’t help but laugh at what Peter called his feet. He’s never heard that before but it was cute. 

“Your feeties are clean now. Before there was so much dirt that I had to clean them but look how clean they are now.” Tony looked down at the kids feet and Peter lifted his foot closer to his face to inspect it. 

“So clean.” Peter inspected and then looked back up at Tony. 

“So all you need to do now is rinse all the soap out of your hair and then I’ll wrap you in a warm, fluffy towel.” Tony explained to him and smiled when Peter’s face lit up. 

“Warm and fluffy. Funny.” The child stood back up and went to go rinse off so Tony took that time to grab a towel from the linen closet in the bathroom. 

“All done?” Tony asked him and held out the towel. Peter shut the water off himself which Tony was surprised about. He didn’t even know Peter knew how to do that but it must be because Peter saw him do it before so he picked up on it. 

“So soft and warm.” Peter said once he was wrapped in the towel. Tony rubbed the towel over his wet hair to try and stop most of the drips then wrapped it more tightly around the child. 

“Let’s get your pyjamas on and then we’ll go hang out for a bit.” Tony told him as he led Peter into his bedroom. He wanted to try and get Peter to sleep in less than twenty minutes so he could go find out more information on him. 

He also had to watch the video tapes on the USB which he was scared to watch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys liked that:)) I’m trying to keep up to date with all my fics and it’s kinda hard at the moment 
> 
> Does anyone live in Hawaii or have lived there? I’m asking for important reasons please let me know


	7. You and me together, we can make it work

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter:) I hope everyone is doing okkk and staying safe

After Peter was sleeping, Tony slowly got out of the kids bed. 

He then stood there surprised because he actually stayed and waited for the kid to fall asleep like some… parent. No, he wasn’t the kids parent. 

He didn’t exactly know what his plan was with Peter, of course he couldn’t keep him because Tony knew that he wasn’t fit to take care of a child, never mind a child that was raised by Hydra and has spider powers. 

Tony knew that he didn’t fit that description and that eventually Peter would need someone better than him. 

It was what Peter deserved. 

Which is why Tony had no idea why he’s getting so much stuff for the kid. He’s putting up gates on the stairs so Peter doesn’t jump off again, he’s getting him a bunch of toys and clothes and he plans to paint and decorate the kids bedroom but he doesn’t know why. 

He doesn’t want to admit even to himself that he cares a lot about Peter because if he admits it then it’s just gonna be a lot harder to watch Peter leave him when that day does inevitably come. 

Tony sighed. He didn’t want that day to ever come. 

It was then that Tony realized that he had been staring at the kid sleeping for the past couple minutes. 

Without even thinking about it, Tony walked closer to Peter and lifted the blankets back up so he could be warm and comfortable. He brushed a gentle hand over his face to brush his long curls away and the gesture just seemed so right. 

Peter even leaned into his touch and gave a tiny smile in his sleep. 

Tony left after that. 

He went downstairs so he could grab the baby gate and put it at the top of the stairs. Tony really hoped it would work, he obviously knew Peter could climb over it if he wanted to but he hoped that it would stop Peter from jumping down the stairs. 

After the gate was installed, Tony went to go check on Peter one more time. The kid was sleeping with the blankets kicked off of him again but Tony didn’t try to cover him since he was sure that Peter was either too hot or he wasn’t used to sleeping with blankets on him. 

So Tony went back downstairs and down to his lab so he could try and salvage some of the video tape. 

He didn’t know what he was expecting to recover, if he was expecting anything. It was possible that there was nothing to salvage and in that case, he would tell Natasha the truth and maybe that would be for the best. Maybe. 

Part of Tony wanted to recover at least something so he had an idea as to what went on at the Hydra base. He could just ask Peter but it didn’t seem like the kid would give a straight answer plus Tony didn’t want to use Peter for information. 

It was Peter’s job to be a kid and not some science experiment anymore. Tony would do everything in his power to keep it that way and he was a very powerful man. 

Tony started to recover some of the footage and it ended up being a lot harder than he thought it would be. He would get a few seconds of the video but then he would find more missing clips. The whole process ended up taking a good hour. 

In the end, Tony got what he wanted. He rewinded the video footage to the very beginning and hit play. The whole video was nine minutes and twenty-seven seconds so he leaned closer to his computer to watch it. 

The date was from exactly a day before Tony and the rest of the team went there. For the first two minutes, it showed a bunch of guards running through the hallways, holding guns in their hands. 

Tony didn’t see anything strange, he didn’t exactly know what he was looking for; maybe Peter or maybe even The Winter Soldier. He didn’t know but he knew when he saw it, he’d know. 

The guards turned down a hallway and then immediately started walking which was odd. Tony watched them walk down the hallway, passing by a bunch of closed doors that possibility looked like cells but then something interesting caught his eye. 

There was a door painted red and had a big black spider painted on the front. The paint was peeled off slightly which told Tony that the door was painted many years ago. Possibly seven years ago. 

The guards stepped in front and opened the door and then they were talking to someone… possibly Peter. 

Tony watched on, sitting on the edge of his seat. The guards stepped aside and Peter walked out of the room. Tony felt his heart drop. 

He knew Peter was in that room, it was obvious after everything he knew but actually seeing it with his own eyes made it true. Peter lived at Hydra and he still had absolutely no idea what they did to him there. Tony didn’t even know what the child was capable of. 

He continued to watch the video footage and watched as Peter walked between the guards with so much ease, almost as if he had been doing that exact thing for years. 

Peter was wearing the same clothes that Tony found him in. They looked absolutely disgusting so he wondered how long Peter had that outfit on for. Probably years. 

In the video, Peter walked down the hallway and turned in the direction where the guards had come running from. They then disappeared into a room but only two guards went in with the child. 

The rest of the guards lined up in the hall and stood watch. 

Tony watched about five minutes of the video, nothing was happening so he thought it was going to end there but then the door was being opened and out walked a doctor, dressed in a long, white lab coat and carrying a shirtless and unconscious Peter in his arms. 

Tony saw red. 

What the fuck did they do to the kid. He had no way of knowing since he didn’t have footage from inside that room and Peter sure as hell wouldn’t know, even if Tony asked him which he would not. 

He picked up one of his tools and launched it across the room. 

He hated that Peter had to grow up there. He hated that Peter was turned into something used for killing and evil. He hated that Peter didn’t have a say in anything that was done to him because he didn’t know any better. It wasn’t fair. 

Tony put his head in his hands and tried to breathe. He’s only known Peter for a few days but the child had shown nothing but kindness and love to him. Even though Peter had so little, he had offered Tony his food, not knowing if he would get anymore. 

It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair that Peter had to go through what he went through but Tony promised himself right then and there that he would make everything right. 

He would make sure that Peter never had to suffer in the hands of Hydra or anywhere else ever again. 

That was a promise he was going to keep. 

.  
.  
.

Tony woke up to Peter poking him in the face. 

He didn’t remember falling asleep. The last thing that Tony remembered was closing down his lab and going upstairs to check on Peter. 

He felt his heart racing in fear of something bad happening to the kid laying next to him so he laid down with him just to watch over him for a few minutes but he guessed he fell asleep. 

“Uh… hey, bud. How long you’ve been up?” Tony sat you and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. 

Peter was poking him on the arm while he continuously licked his lips. “So hungry.” 

Tony sat up in bed and then noticed the small blanket that was covering his legs. He assumed that Peter had laid it there to keep him warm during the night and then he thought back to everything that he found on those tapes last night and his heart broke. Peter was good, he wasn’t what Hydra tried to make him out to be. 

Peter poked Tony on the lips and scrunched his face up. “You… you make… noises. Loud noises. Like-like a pig.” Peter grinned at his last sentence and it had Tony laughing. 

“Oh really? I sound like a pig when I sleep?” Tony asked while he was laughing. “You mean I snore?” 

Peter nodded his head. “Snore. Yes. You snore.” 

Tony picked up a pillow and gently smacked Peter with it but then the smile immediately fell from his face and he froze. What if Peter mistook that for something else? What if Peter thought he was going to hurt him? 

Tony's fears quickly fated as Peter looked at the pillow with an amused expression on his face. He continued to look at the pillow as if he was thinking about what to do with it and then he picked it up, standing up on the bed and whacking Tony with it, hard. 

“Hey. What was that for?” Tony laughed out and grabbed the pillow from Peter. 

Peter grabbed it back and yanked it out of Tony’s hands with so much power it surprised Tony. “I hit you but… play. Nice.” 

Tony stood up off the bed and picked up another pillow from the bed then hit Peter with that one but gently. 

Peter hit him back with the pillow in his hand and then the two of them had their very first pillow fight. 

It was amazing to Tony, how quickly Peter picked up on everything and how he didn’t show any sign of fear towards him even after everything that he was put through at Hydra. It amazed him. 

Peter sent a rather hard hit to Tony’s head so Tony threw his pillow and held up his hands in a surrender. “Okay. Okay. All done. You win. You are by far the pillow fight master in the house.” 

Peter grinned and jumped up and down on the bed. He then came to a sudden stop and his smile fell. His hands travelled to between his legs and he scrunched his nose up. 

Tony knew exactly what that meant. He quickly reached forward to lift Peter off the bed and into the bathroom. 

He knew how this went by now so he pulled down Peter’s pyjama pants and sat him on the toilet because the kid obviously didn’t know how to stand up and aim yet. 

Peter looked up at Tony with fearful eyes. “I can go now?” 

Tony nodded. “Yeah, bud. You can go. Even if you had an accident, I wouldn’t get mad but I’m glad that you made it.” 

Peter started to go pee so Tony went to leave the room but Peter called out for him. “No! Stay. Please.” 

Tony turned around and saw the fearful look on Peter’s face. This was a continuous recurrence for Peter not wanting him to leave while he went to the bathroom. Tony didn’t want to leave if Peter didn’t want him too but he also didn’t want to get Peter too dependent on him staying. 

He decided to stay for now and talk to Peter about using the bathroom on his own another time. It was just something that they had to work on. 

After Peter was done in the bathroom, they both made their way downstairs for some breakfast. Tony put out two bowls and handed Peter the box of Cheerios so he could pour it by himself. 

Peter grabbed it and stuck his hand inside of it then pulled out a handful and attempted to eat it. “No, Peter. You pour the box into the bowl and fill up as much as you want to eat.” 

The kid looked at Tony for a few seconds before he was doing what Tony said to do. He poured the cereal into one of the bowls but he didn’t stop pouring it until Tony had to stop him because it was overflowing. 

“Alright. That’s good. If you want more later than you can have more but let’s see if you eat this first.” Tony grabbed the box from him and handed him his sippy cup with apple juice. 

Just as Tony was about to sit down and eat with Peter who was watching him and waiting for him to sit down, his phone started ringing which scared both him and Peter. 

“What that?” Peter asked him, pointing to the pocket where Tony had his phone. 

“It’s my phone. It’s okay.” Tony pulled his phone out of his pocket and saw that it was Natasha who was calling. He assumed as much. 

When he looked back up at Peter, Peter was looking at him with wide eyes and Tony felt bad for having to leave Peter to answer the phone call but he had no other choice. “Hey, bud, I have to go answer this but you stay here.” 

Peter shook his head. “No go. Please.” 

Tony's heart broke. If only it were that simple. “I have to but I’ll be right back. I promise.” 

Tony left Peter and quickly ran upstairs where he could hopefully hide in his bedroom. “Hello?” 

“You seem busy.” Natasha said as soon as he answered the phone.

“All I said was hello.” Tony said, confused. He walked over to his window and sat on the ledge that looked out into the deep forest. 

“You took awhile to answer the phone.” Natasha pointed out and Tony rolled his eyes. Of course she would point that out. 

“Yeah well I don’t have a crush on you so I’m not racing to answer your call.” Tony said sarcastically. He wanted her to hurry up with why she was calling to begin with. 

“Oh. So you’re saying if Pepper called then you would have answered it faster?” Natasha asked to annoy him. 

“What do you want, Nat?” Tony had little patience for her right now. He had a kid downstairs that he had to take care of. 

“I think you know.” She paused. “What did you find on the USB chip I gave you?” 

Tony mentally cursed even though he knew that that was the reason why she was calling. Part of him was still hoping that it was something else. “I didn’t find anything. You were right, there’s too much damage to recover anything.” He lied. He knew Natasha knew that as well. 

“Woah. Are we losing connection or did you actually say I’m right?” Natasha asked him with amusement to her voice. 

Tony played along. “What can I say, I surprise myself sometimes even.” 

“Alright, Tony. You know, I thought we were closer than that.” Natasha said with fake hurt to her voice. “Tell me what you found on the tapes.” 

Woah, she meant business. “Is that a threat, Ms. Romanoff?” 

“Only if you perceive it that way. Which I suggest you do.” 

Tony rubbed his hand across his face. “I told you I found nothing. I can even send you back your USB when I come back to the tower.” 

Natasha was silent on the other end for a few seconds. “Don’t make me get Fury involved.” 

“To be fair, I’m more scared of you than I am of him.” Tony said honestly. Natasha was a silent killer. 

She laughed. “So you’ll admit you’re scared of me?” 

“Sometimes. Look, I found nothing, okay? If I did find something then I’d tell you.” Tony kinda felt a bit bad for lying since Natasha was one of his best friends. Definitely the person he's closest to out of all the Avengers. 

“Alright. I still want the USB back so bring it when you come by later today.” She said but Tony had no plans to come to the tower that day or anytime soon.” 

“I’m not coming to the tower today.” He said, a bit confused since he knew he was kept out of the loop. 

“If you were here then you would know what’s going on.” Natasha said, confirming what he thought about being kept out of the loop. “The guy we took from the Hydra base, we didn’t interrogate him yet for reasons that Fury can explain.” 

“You know I have a phone. You could have texted or called me to tell me.” Tony knew that everyone was mad at him for being elsewhere but he didn’t care. Peter was top priority. 

Natasha ignored him. “So I’m going in to talk to him today. Right after I get off the call with you actually so we’ll see how that goes. How much information he gives us.” 

Tony was about to answer her but then he looked up and saw Peter crawling on the ceiling, making his way over to him. He waved his hand to silently tell Peter to get down. 

“Tony, are you listening to me?” Natasha asked him. 

“Uh, yeah. Yeah. You’re gonna talk to that guy.” Tony repeated but then Peter was crawling closer to him. 

Tony mouthed get down and hoped that Peter listened to him. 

Peter frowned and then shot a web on the ceiling so he could get down effortlessly. He stood in front of Tony and looked up at him. Tony held his finger over his mouth, silently telling Peter to be quiet but he didn’t know if Peter understood what that meant. 

“Where you go?” Peter asked him which caused Tony to immediately put Natasha on mute and point towards the door. 

“Shhh. Go.” Tony said but immediately felt horrible because Peter’s face scrunched up and he started to cry. It was loud and there were a lot of tears. 

Tony didn’t know what to do. He hung up the phone with Natasha so he didn’t have to deal with that anymore and he kneeled down to Peter’s height who was crying loudly. 

He had absolutely no idea what to do because Peter had never done this before. He was always quiet unless he was talking a lot. “Um… Peter. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have told you to be quiet. That was rude of me.” 

Peter nodded his head but continued to cry loudly. Tony didn’t know what to do, Peter’s cries were hurting his ears and his heart. 

The seven- year old slowly lifted his hand up to Tony and held out his pinky finger. “P-pinky promise.” 

Tony looked at him confused. “Pinky promise?” 

Peter stopped crying a bit so he could mod his head and explain to Tony. “Y-yeah. Pinky promise no shh.” 

“Oh. Okay.” Tony held up his much larger hand and wrapped his pinky around Peter’s. “I pinky promise you I won’t sush you ever again. It was rude and I’m sorry.” 

Peter gave Tony a little smile after that. It made Tony feel a little better but not much better. 

“How about we finish eating our breakfast?” The older man stood up and suggested to which Peter nodded his head at and reached his hand out to hold onto Tony’s hand. 

Tony smiled down at the now happy kid. It amazed him how Peter would easily switch between emotions so quickly. 

He just hoped Peter would still be happy once he left to go to the tower later that day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys liked that:) ahhhh I ammmmm soooo excited, I’m working on the next chapter now and I just ahhh I love it!


	8. We’ll make a life together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hii guys:) I’m back with a new chapter and I hope you guys like it:) it’s by far my favourite one yet:))))
> 
> Please read end notes :)

Tony was feeling horrible. 

Peter had held his hand around the house for practically the whole morning and being really clingy, well, clingy for a kid who didn’t know how to show physical emotion or a need for comfort. 

Peter’s definition of clingy was holding onto Tony’s hand or watching Tony with wide eyes when he would walk around the house. 

It was quite endearing to watch the kid and pick up on his behaviours but now Tony felt horrible because he had to leave. He had to go to the tower for a few hours and talk to Natasha and most likely the rest of the team as well. 

He really didn’t want to go but when did he ever. The only difference now was that he actually had a reason not to go and that reason was Peter. Only he couldn’t tell anyone that. 

Peter was playing with the couch cushion that he had taken off the couch. Tony wondered if Peter would even like his toys when his toys arrived. Probably not since he wouldn’t know how to play with them. 

Tony sat down on the couch and went to speak but Peter screamed at him then mumbled something incoherent then smacked Tony on the leg. 

“What? Ow, Peter. No. We don’t hit. That wasn’t very nice.” Tony grabbed onto the hand that just hit him but he immediately let go when Peter looked at Tony’s hand on him in fear. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have grabbed you.” 

Peter hugged his hand to his chest and then looked at the cushion that Tony was sitting on so Tony figured that he sat on the kids toy, which was the couch. Oops. 

He stood up to let Peter grab it and smiled when he saw the happy smile that immediately appeared on Peter’s face. 

“Peter. I have to go to the tower again today. I’ll be home for a little longer than I was before but I promise I’ll come back.” Tony spoke slowly so Peter would understand him. 

Peter stopped what he was doing and shook his head. “You leave cause I bad? I so bad.” 

“No. No, bud. You’re good. You’re so good but I’m not leaving because of you. I have to go take care of some boring business stuff.” Tony explained to him and hoped that Peter understood. 

Peter’s face scrunched up. “B… boring? Boring. Boring. What that?” 

Tony smiled at Peter repeating the word and trying to sound it out in his mouth. He did a good job at it, he is a quick learner, Tony figured. 

“It’s something that doesn’t interest you. It makes you tired and unproductive.” Tony knew he was using big words for a kid like Peter but that was the simplest way he could explain it. 

“Like… not fun?” Peter asked. 

Tony smiled proudly at the kid. “Yeah! Good job, bud. You’re so smart.” 

Peter nodded his head. “Yeah. I so smart.” 

“Okay so I have to go now.” Tony said again since they got a bit off topic. 

Peter looked up at him sadly. “Don’ go. You leave cause I bad?” 

Tony sighed. He just went over this with Peter. “No, bud. I’ll be back for you. So you continue building your blocks.” 

Tony stood up to walk away but Peter let out a whine so he turned around to look at the kid. Peter was standing up and looking up at Tony through his eyelashes. 

He definitely mastered the puppy dog look, Tony thought to himself. “What is it?” 

“When-when you go… I bored.” Peter said sadly but smiled at the fact that he used his new word in a sentence. 

“I know. And I’m sorry but I have to go now. I’m going to see you in about three hours.” Tony knew that was a long time and he felt bad but he didn’t have any other choice. 

Peter let out a puff of air. “Oh no. That’s long.” 

“Yeah. I’m sorry, buddy.” Tony reached out to ruffle Peter’s hair and then he started walking out of the house. He felt bad to leave the kid but soon he wouldn't have to leave him every other day. He just had to get the Avengers and Fury off his ass. 

About an hour and a half after Tony left, Peter started to get bored. 

He wanted Tony to come back for him since Tony was his new friend even though he didn’t know what that was. 

Peter just knew what that word meant because the baby deer would always hang out with the baby rabbit and they were happy together and Peter was happy with Tony so Tony must be his friend. 

He didn’t like it when Tony would leave him because he didn’t like feeling so sad and alone. He liked it when the man was around a lot. It made him feel happy and safe. 

After a while, Peter started to get really impatient because he wanted Tony to come back so he decided to go look for the man. 

He knew that Tony left out the big door but he didn’t know where he went after that. Back at his old house, he knew he wasn’t allowed to leave his room without the guards with him but he was at his new house with Tony and Tony was nice. 

Peter ran over to the front door and tried to push it open but it didn’t budge. “Open! I say open.” 

Peter pushed against the door again but then he saw the handle so he tried to get it to open for him. He knew that when Tony did it, he unlocked some of the locks but he didn’t know how to do that. 

The seven year old stuck his hands and feet to the door so he could climb up to reach the locks. 

He managed to unlock all three locks from watching how Tony did it and then he was opening the door. 

The door swung open so Peter walked to the edge of the floor in the house. He was scared to leave since he had only been outside one time when Tony flew him away. He didn’t know where Tony went as well so he would have to go look for him. 

Peter took a step outside and then took another step until he had both of his feet on the ground. He ran to the driveway where he helped Tony carry in some of the boxes and looked around for the man. 

“Tony? I lookin’ for you.” Peter said and continued to walk down the driveway. He liked the way the wind was blowing in his face and now his hair was blowing back. 

Peter started running down the driveway and giggling excitedly. He loved it outside. 

“I flying!” Peter yelled happily and stuck his arms in front of him as he ran. He picked up his pace once he realized that he could run a lot faster than he thought. 

Peter came to a sudden stop when he came to the end of the driveway. There was a road that went in both directions so Peter looked left and right and tried to decide what way he wanted to run. 

He decided to run left so he took off in that direction. It was the perfect road to run on too because it kept going so he could run as fast as he wanted to. 

Peter continued to run, feeling like he was flying but then he heard a loud noise come up behind him quickly so he stopped running and turned around to see a car there. 

The person was stopping the car and slowly getting out of it. Peter’s smile fell from his face. He didn’t know that person. 

“Hey, kid. Are you lost?” The man asked him. “Where’s your mommy and daddy?” 

Peter shook his head and let out a whimper. He didn’t want to talk to this man anymore because he was scary looking so he took off into the forest and started running as fast as he could. 

It reminded him of the night he met Tony. Maybe if he ran fast enough like last time then Tony would fly down and save him again. 

After a bit of running with still no Tony, Peter stopped to catch his breath. He sat down on a log and swung his legs back and forth. He wished he hadn’t left the house now because he didn’t know where he was and he wanted Tony. 

Peter sighed. He looked down at his feet and saw that he was only wearing his red and blue socks that Tony helped him put on this morning. His favourite socks were now covered in dirt and sticks and that made him mad. 

He jumped off the log and continued walking for a bit. He wanted Tony to fly him home because he was starting to get hungry and Tony always fed him when he was hungry. 

Peter knew that he had to find his own way home so he continued to walk some more until he heard some noise coming from a little bit further into the forest where the sun was brighter. 

The seven-year old made his way cautiously towards the noise. It sounded like the voices of people, maybe the guards at Hydra. Peter didn’t want to go back to them. He didn’t like when they put needles in him and put bands on his arms and legs. He liked being with Tony. 

Peter tried to walk as quiet as he could so the Hydra guards couldn’t see or hear him. He got to the edge of the forest and crouched down by a tree stump to stay hidden just like he used to do in his old room by his bed when he didn’t want to go into the white room with the meanies. 

He peeked his head up and saw that the voices were coming from other people. They weren’t from Hydra at all. Peter smiled at that but then the smile fell because he didn’t know anyone else except for Tony who was his best friend. 

Peter stood up from behind the tree stump and slowly started walking to the group of people that were having fun playing on the metal bars and the slides. 

He wanted to have fun too so Peter started giggling and ran over to the park. He paused when he was about to step into the sand because he didn’t know what it was. 

Peter squatted didn’t and reached a hand out to touch it. When he felt that it was soft, he stood up and jumped into it. It felt so good on his feet so he started to jump around in it and laughed when he felt the sand go into his socks and between his toes. 

Peter fell onto his knees and picked up fist fills of sand, feeling it run through his fingers. He picked up another handful and shoved it into his mouth but immediately spit it out. Not food. 

“Excuse me, are you lost, sweetie?” Peter looked up to see a woman talking to him. She was holding a baby on her hip and Peter had never seen a baby before. Just in books. 

He reached a hand out to touch the baby’s foot and started giggling when he felt its tiny toes. “Baby.” 

The woman looked at him weirdly. “Yeah, he’s a baby. Where are your parents? Your mommy and daddy? Did you run out of the house?” 

Peter looked at her. He didn’t understand what she was saying so he pointed to the direction where he came from. The woman looked towards the forest and then Peter was standing up and running over to the slide to climb up it. 

He used his sticky hands and feet to get him up the slide in no time and then there was a boy at the top of the slide watching him with wide eyes. 

“Woah. How’d you do that? I’ve been trying to climb up that slide for a million years.” The boy said and looked at Peter in awe. 

Peter held out his hands. “I sticky.” 

The boy went to touch his hands but Peter quickly moved his hands away from him. “No. Just Tony.” 

“Oh. Who’s Tony? I have an Uncle named Tony but he lives in Canada.” The boy explained to Peter. Peter titled his head in confusion. 

“Tony’s my best friend. Like mama deer and baby deer.” Peter told the boy and then he was done talking to him because he wanted to play. He moved passed him and started to climb down the stairs to reach the monkey bars. 

Peter lifted himself up easily and started to swing from them, having so much fun. 

.  
.  
.

“You’re late.” Was the first thing Natasha said when Tony got out of the elevator. She held her hand out for the USB but Tony gave her a low high five and smirked then continued walking. “Give me back the USB.” 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Tony said and pushed open the door for the conference room but there was only Steve, Sam and Clint in there. 

Tony looked around the room for the one eyed man. “Where’s Fury?” 

Steve scuffed so Clint spoke up. “The ass hole went to talk to SHIELD about what the ass hole told us.” 

Tony sat down next to Natasha. He had no idea what was going on. “I’m not following. Who’s the other ass hole?” 

“Well maybe if you were here then you’d know what was going on, Stark.” Steve shot at him so Tony whipped his head around to glare at the man. 

“I have things I need to take care of. It’s not my fault you’re getting so bent up about your long lost boyfriend.” Tony shot back. He didn’t feel bad at all because he knew that if Steve knew about Peter then he would want to use him to find Barnes. 

“Tony. Let’s focus.” Natasha said firmly so Tony and Steve wouldn’t keep going at it. “The scientist that I interrogated this morning gave us a lot of information.” 

Tony felt his heart drop. Please don’t be about Peter, he said like a mantra in his head. 

“What did he tell you?” Tony asked, already having an idea. 

“Well, for starters his name is Vlad Smirnov. He’s worked at Hydra for over twenty years but they transferred him to that base just over seven years ago.” Natasha explained but all Tony could think about was how Peter was seven years old so that guy must have some ties to the kid. 

Natasha continued. “He gave the information pretty easily actually. I thought I’d have to go a little hard on him but after a few threats, he was cooperating.” 

Steve scuffed again. “I thought these guys were supposed to be willing to die for their cause.” 

Natasha chuckled. “Apparently not this guy. He told us how they transferred him after a certain test subject was brought in. He thought it was some insect of some sort, a spider, but apparently it was a baby.” 

Tony felt his heart drop. He tried to keep a straight face but he knew that Natasha was watching him like a hawk for him to show any sign that he knew something. Fuck. 

“So they have a-a baby there?” Tony asked, his heart in his throat. 

“That was seven years ago.” Natasha didn’t show any sign that she knew anything. Tony didn’t want to look at her but he didn’t want to make it obvious by not looking at her. 

“They’re doing fucking experiments on a kid. Someone’s child.” Clint said loudly and tossed his pen across the room. 

Tony was just as pissed as Clint was. Tony was the one who had the kid and knew firsthand how beautiful and sweet Peter was and that he did not deserve whatever they did to him there. 

“So they’re doing experiments on some kid? Do we know anything else? What else did the guy say?” Tony blurted out all those questions while still trying to act like he didn’t have said kid at home. 

Natasha shook her head. “He said the kid’s dead. I don’t believe him though because he wouldn't tell us how he died or why he thinks the kid is dead. He also won’t tell us anything about the kid. We don’t know if it’s a boy or a girl-” 

“We don’t even know if there is a kid.” Sam cut Natasha off to say. 

Tony turned to him. “Why not?” 

Sam shrugged, clearly upset about the conversation. “Would Hydra snoop that low? Plus, why would they want a baby? It makes no sense. Clint would know that they’re a lot of work and I just can’t see why Hydra would need a baby.” 

Sam paused to look at Steve and then continued. “Sorry Steve, but they’d want Barnes. Someone who is old enough and capable to take orders. Someone who can actually walk. You really think they’d want a baby?” 

If Tony didn’t have Peter at home, he would be taking Sam's side because he made a good point but he knew the man was wrong. As much as he wanted him to be right. 

“I don’t know.” Natasha admitted. “Hydra is capable of something like that. I wouldn’t put it past them. Plus, why would the scientist say that if it isn’t true?” 

Sam shrugged. “To cover up something worse.” 

“What’s worse than them having a baby there?” Clint asked and then stood up in his chair to start pacing. 

“Clint’s right. I don’t think he’s lying. The time lines add up.” Natasha said and started to think about something but Tony spoke. 

“What else did the guy say?” Tony asked. He needed to know how much everyone else knew. 

“He talked about a lot of stuff we already knew. Like codes and plans and he started giving us the layout of the building.” Natasha spoke, she paused to think of other things said. 

“Then he told us about the kid. He said he was one of the guards there that only interacted with the kid when he needed to bring it from room to room but he knows too much for just a guard so we think he’s a scientist. We know he is.” Natasha crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair to look at Tony. 

He mirrored her position but he knew she was reading him. “I thought he told you he was a scientist?” 

She shook her head. “No. We just know he is. But he’s too scared to admit it because then we’ll know for sure he worked with the kid and whatever they did to it.” 

“Stop saying it.” Tony said before he even had the chance to think about what he was saying. He just felt sick hearing Peter be called an it when he is in fact a very intelligent boy who has a big heart but just doesn’t know how to use it yet. 

“Well, I don’t exactly know if… the kid is a boy or girl so,” Natasha shrugged her shoulders and leaned against the table. 

“A kid. A child.” Tony said and then checked his watch to see what time it was so he wasn’t late going home to Peter. It was weird to think of it like that but that’s exactly what it was, he was going home to a kid. 

Natasha nodded, eyeing Tony again. Tony cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Where did Fury go?” 

“He went to talk to SHIELD about the supposed kid that Hydra was most likely turning into a weapon of some kind.” Natasha answered him and watched Tony carefully. 

Tony knew she was onto him. “Alright. Is that all because I’m done here?” Tony asked and stood up, grabbing his phone from his pocket so he didn’t have to look at anyone. 

“That’s all.” Natasha said amused. 

Tony took a second to glance up at her and then he was walking out of the room. He didn’t get very far before Natasha was running up to him. 

“Can I have my USB back?” She held out her hand for it so Tony reached into his pocket and grabbed the chip then handed it to her roughly. 

He wiped everything that was on it so she couldn’t uncover what he had found but now he was starting to wonder if she could help him keep Peter away from Fury finding his way to the kid. 

“What did you find?” She asked him but he kept speed walking down the hall towards the elevator. 

“I told you I didn’t find anything.” He lied and he knew that she knew it too. 

Natasha walked in front of Tony so he couldn’t move anymore. “That wasn’t our deal, Stark. You told me you would tell me what you found if I gave you the chip and I gave you the chip.” 

Tony crossed his arms. He couldn’t tell her without telling her about Peter. 

“Alright. It was just videos of guards walking from room to room and it showed one white lab coat guy. That’s it.” Tony lied. He was a good liar but Natasha was already onto him. 

She grabbed him by the arm and pulled him into the same office as before then slammed the door and stood by it. 

Tony laughed, annoyed at the situation. 

“Is it a boy or a girl?” She asked him seriously. All joking off the table. 

Tony felt his heart drop. He didn’t want to have to tell her. “How am I supposed to know that? You probably know more than me.” 

She didn’t budge. “I know you know a lot, Stark. I know you have the kid.” 

Tony knew he couldn’t keep this from her anymore. He might even need to use her to help him keep Peter safe. 

Tony sighed. “He’s a boy.” 

She nodded. “Alright. And you found him that night at the base then?” 

Tony moved to the office chair to sit down in. “Yeah. I found him in the forest. Nat, he’s the most innocent little human ever. He’s been with me this whole time and he has not once tried to hurt me, although today he slapped my leg because I was sitting on his toy but he’s so sweet.” 

Natasha walked to the other chair and sat down across from him. “He’s seven?” 

Tony nodded. “He looks like he’s about five though.” 

“What’s his name?” 

Tony shook his head. “Nope. I’m not telling you.” 

“If you want my help keeping Fury off your ass then I need to know these things.” Natasha leaned closer to say to him. 

“And you’d actually help me? No going behind my back?” Tony trusted Natasha with his life but he wouldn’t trust her with Peter’s life. 

“I know what it’s like. Being that young and being forced to be someone you’re not. Even if you don’t know at the time what you want.” Natasha looked away from Tony for the first time since they walked into the office. 

Tony knew how hard her life was and how hard it was for her to talk about it but that doesn’t mean she gets an all access pass onto Peter’s life. 

“I want your help but you don’t need to know anything about him. All you need to know is that Hydra, whatever they did to him or planned on doing anything to him, he isn’t like that.” Tony debated telling her about Peter’s spider-like qualities but he decided not to. 

“He barely speaks English. He’s a fast learner though. He’s picking up on a lot but he doesn’t speak in full sentences. He only likes to eat Mac and cheese and Cheerios and he doesn’t know how to use the bathroom yet but he’s good. I can tell he’s good.” Tony didn’t know Peter for very long but he did know that the kid had a good soul. 

“If you want me to help you then I want to meet him and decide for myself. I want to see that I’m not helping you contain a potential mass murderer, trained by Hydra.” Natasha demanded but Tony shook his head. 

“What, you don’t believe me? Take my word for it.” Tony couldn’t let her see Peter. He couldn’t let anyone. 

“No. I want to meet him. Where are you keeping him?” She asked him but Tony was already standing up to leave. 

“Alright. No. Not gonna happen.” He walked to the office door but paused to look at her. “Do not tell anyone else what I told you. If I find out I will personally fly you in my suit to the raft. Stay away from the kid.” 

With that, Tony walked out of the office and into the elevator. 

This meeting did not go the way he exacted it to go and he hated that Natasha knew. He hoped it was a good thing so she could help him out but he wasn’t so sure. 

All he knew was that he did not hold an empty threat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys liked this chapter. I think urs my favourite one yet but I’m still working on the next one so I might like that one better... idkk yet 
> 
> Also I went for a walk yesterday and since I’ve spent the past like over 2 months in my house and barely leaving, that walk made my legs and hip hurt so yikes you can tell I’m out of shape also also tmi but I need to stop holding in my pee so much because it’s gonna become a problem but I just get so lazy to stand up 
> 
> Ohhh omg ok I need to ask you guys something.... soo do you know the temptation challenge that parents do with their kids? It’s when they place a bowl of candy in front of them and tell them not to eat it then leave to see if they do. Well what do you think about Tony doing the challenge with Peter in the next couple chapters? 
> 
> Idkk I just think ug be really cute an innocent. Tell me if you want me to do it. Also if you do want me to write it, what do you think Peter will do?


	9. As free as a butterfly

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys when I wrote this chapter I got so emotional at two parts and my eyes got all watery, this chapter is just ahhh I hope you guys like it also please read end notes after:)

When Tony got back home, he could already tell that something was wrong because the door was open. 

He ran out of his car without even turning it off and ran up to the front door. He saw that it wasn’t kicked in or anything so that means that Peter left the house because the locks were all unlocked. 

Tony started running through the house wildly because maybe Peter just opened the door and didn’t actually leave. “Peter? Peter, buddy?” 

Tony ran up the stairs, jumping over the baby gate. “Peter?! Where are you? Peter?” 

Tony felt his heart beating a mile a minute. Peter wouldn’t just leave. He couldn’t. But if he did leave the house then that means that he could be anywhere and Fury knew about a kid and so did everyone at Hydra. 

His heart was beating way too fast but Tony didn’t care. 

Where the fuck was his kid? 

Tony didn’t even realize he thought of Peter as his kid. The kid wasn’t his, he was just his responsibility. Yeah, that's it. Tony would be lying if he said he didn’t care about Peter a lot and was going to go fucking crazy if he didn’t find him. 

“FRIDAY? Where’s Peter?” Tony asked as he finished checking all the rooms for Peter and jumped back over the baby gate to head back downstairs. 

“Peter is not in the house. He left to go outside approximately two and a half hours ago.” FRIDAY responded and Tony’s heart dropped. 

No. Nonononono. Peter couldn’t have actually left the house. Meaning that he could be anywhere now. Two hours was a long fucking time. 

“Why the fuck am I just hearing about this?! Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” Tony yelled as he ran towards the front door. 

“It is not my protocol to let you know if the door is opened from the inside. Would you like me to change that?” FRIDAY asked him but Tony didn’t care. It was too late for that. 

“I’m gonna rewrite your whole fucking hard drive when I get back!” Tony yelled and then he was running out of the house and looking around for Peter. 

The property out front wasn’t big but it was completely sounded by a forest so if Peter ran in that direction then Tony was screwed because even though it was extremely far, it would eventually lead to the Hydra base if Peter kept going. 

Tony tried not to think about that. He turned in the other direction and started running down the driveway like a wild man. “Peter? Peter?” 

He was scared to call his name in case someone else heard him but he didn’t care because if Peter was still close to the house then he could hear him. Although Tony doubted that possibility. 

Peter had to be really far right now but the question was how far and where. 

Tony got to the bottom of the driveway and paused. He had absolutely no idea which way Peter would have gone. Left or right. If he even ran down the driveway at all. 

Tony took a chance and turned left then started running. He came from the right which led into the city and even though he wasn’t looking for anything on his drive home, he didn’t see anything so he decided to run in the other direction. 

He didn’t know how long he was running for, looking for Peter and praying not to find his dead body on the side of the road but Tony had to stop because he was out of breath. 

His lungs were burning, not used to running such far distances. There were no cars driving by which was a good and bad thing. 

Tony continued to run again, ignoring the cramp that he started to get. He didn’t care because the kid needed him and he needed him now. 

“Peter? Peter, where are you, bud?” Tony yelled and turned his running into a jog and then stopped fully so he could pace the side of the road. He had no idea where his freaking kid was. 

He ran his hands through his hair and felt his eyes burn. He pictured some Hydra goons finding Peter and taking him back to a new base where they would be extra careful to cover all their tracks. 

Tony didn’t want to think about that. It wasn’t fair. Peter didn’t deserve to live that life. He deserved to live a life being the innocent child that he is. 

He deserves to go to school and play with all his new friends, have a family that loves him and possibly a dog as a pet. Whatever Peter wants, he deserves. 

Tony had absolutely no idea where to go from there. He didn’t know if he was even on the right track to find Peter. 

Suddenly, a butterfly that was a bright red flew in front of Tony and flew into the forest. Tony decided to follow the butterfly but as soon as he got into the forest, it was gone. 

Something told him to keep on going so he started walking through the forest, getting flashbacks of when he first found the kid on that dark night. 

He picked up his pace and started running through the forest faster. He isn’t sure how long it is until he’s reaching the end of the forest and walking out to a large field and a park. 

There are tons of kids playing in the park with their parents so Tony started to walk around to look for Peter. He doesn’t spot him but then he thinks back to what he dressed Peter in. He remembered putting on his red and blue socks but that’s it. 

He can’t remember what else Peter is wearing but he knows that Peter would desperately try to match his clothes with his socks so he has to be wearing red or blue clothes. 

Tony can feel his heart about to beat out of his chest because he’s walking around the park like some kind of child molester and he still doesn’t see Peter. 

Tony stopped walking and ran a hand through his hair but then he turned around and spotted the most beautiful sight. 

Peter was running in the grass chasing some kind of butterfly without a care in the world. Tony almost sobbed at the sight. 

“Peter.” Tony rushed towards him. “Peter.” 

Peter stopped chasing the butterfly and turned around to see Tony walking quickly towards him. A huge smile spread across Peter’s face at the sight of his best friend and then he was running over to him. 

“Tony! I run free!” Peter exclaimed excitedly. 

Tony didn’t say anything. He kneeled down so he was at Peter’s height and hugged him close to his chest, breathing in the scent of his apple shampoo. 

“Oh Peter. You scared me so much. I was so scared.” Tony said to the boy after he pulled away from him and cupped Peter’s face. He had never been so touchy with Peter before but the kid didn’t seem to mind one bit. In fact, he actually seemed to like it. 

“I don’ know. I just go lookin’ for you.” Peter explained to Tony and shrugged. 

Tony pulled him in for another hug. This kid. “I’m so glad you’re okay. Oh my god.” 

Peter tried to pull out of Tony’s arms and reach up for the butterflies that were flying above them. “I wan’ that one. It red!” 

Tony let go of Peter and stood up. There were about ten butterflies flying above the two of them and it was quite beautiful to see. 

He looked at the butterfly that Peter pointed to and saw that it looked like the same butterfly that brought him to Peter. 

Peter started to run in the field and reach his arms up to try and grab them. It looked like the butterflies were dancing with Peter. 

Peter started giggling and jumping up and down and then all of the sudden the butterflies just flew away and they were out of sight in just a few seconds. Peter stopped trying to reach for them and looked at Tony confused. 

“Where go?” Peter asked, walking over to Tony. 

“I don’t know, bud.” Tony thought that those butterflies were little Guardian angels keeping a watch on Peter until he got to his kid. If Peter hadn’t found the butterflies then he would have most likely wandered somewhere else. 

“I wan’ ‘dem come back.” Peter said and looked up at Tony with so much trust in his eyes. Tony smiled down at him. 

“They’ll come back to you one day but I think they know I’m here to take care of you now.” Tony said to Peter and brushed his hair back with his fingers. The action felt so right so he did it again and smiled when Peter lifted his arms up for him. 

Tony picked Peter up and set him on his hip. “You ready to head home?” 

Peter gave a sharp nod and grabbed onto the back of Tony’s jacket with his tiny fist. 

Tony had Peter in his arms so he knew he was safe. He could relax now. 

He didn’t bring his car so he would have to walk back home but he was okay with that. He had Peter so he was okay. 

“You gin’ run? The trees go up so high.” Peter said to him and fisted Tony’s jacket tighter in his hand. 

“I’m not gonna run and yes, the trees are very tall, aren’t they?” Tony looked over at Peter who was looking up at the trees with so much curiosity it his big brown eyes. 

“Uh huh. I wan’ go up there.” Peter pointed to the top of the trees and Tony’s eyes went wide. Just the thought of Peter climbing to the top of one of those trees was enough to give him a panic attack. 

“Oh no you don’t. You stay on the ground.” Tony said and then Peter was giggling and laying his head on Tony’s shoulder. 

Tony melted at the action. He rarely held Peter in fear that Peter wouldn’t want to be held and Peter never really asked so he just hoped that he got to hold Peter more often like this. 

It was a bit odd to carry him through the forest like this but at least he had his kid with him. 

“I sleepy. Wan’-wan’... hungry. Before but, not-not now. More hungry.” Peter struggled to explain how he was feeling and Tony could hear the stress in his voice when he couldn’t get his point across. 

“You’re tired and you’re hungry?” Tony asked for clarification even though he knew what Peter was trying to say. He was also trying to build Peter’s sentence structure as much as he could. Maybe he could order him some books to read. 

Peter lifted his head off his shoulder and nodded it then lifted up the red pull over sweater he was wearing to show Tony his belly. 

“Hungry.” Peter rubbed his belly and Tony noticed that it was no longer flat. There was some fat on his stomach which was such a good sign. Peter was gaining weight and Tony loved that so much. 

He smiled at him and without even thinking about it, Tony pressed a kiss to Peter’s cheek. He pulled away and saw the surprised look on the kids face. 

Peter’s eyes had gone wide and he dropped his shirt back down out of shock. Tony didn’t know what to do so him and the kid just stared at each other for a few long seconds. 

Then Peter was grinning and grabbing Tony’s face with both hands and kissing him on the cheek. It was Tony’s turn to look at Peter in surprise. 

Before he even had time to react or say anything, Peter was grabbing him by the face again and pressing a bunch of kisses to Tony’s check repeatedly. 

Tony had to actually move his head away from Peter to get the kid to stop so he could see the road they were walking on. “Buddy, I think that’s enough. You’re gonna run out of lips.” 

Peter shook his head with a grin on his face. “No. I don’ lose ‘dem. I like it.” 

Tony smiled at him. “You like kisses?” 

Peter smiled and nodded his head. “Yeah! Yeah yeah yeah.” 

Tony wondered if it was the first kiss Peter had ever gotten. He knew that no one at Hydra was kissing the kid but he didn’t know about his parents. He didn’t know if his parents showed any love towards Peter or not. 

Maybe he would never know. 

“Do again.” Peter smiled and waited for Tony to kiss him again. 

Tony pressed another kiss to Peter’s cheek and when he pulled away, Peter laid his head back on Tony’s shoulder and let out a content hum. 

The walk home ended up taking over thirty minutes. He carried Peter the whole way in silence because Peter was content to watch the trees and the occasional car pass by. Tony thought about how relaxing it must be for Peter because his steps would be like a rocking motion for him. 

When they arrived at the house, Tony forgot that his car was still on so he turned that off and went to walk inside the house but the door was left open so he hesitated. He stepped inside the front door and stopped. 

“FRIDAY, is there anyone inside the house?” Tony asked, scared of the answer. 

He was already ready to bolt inside his car with Peter and keep driving until he knew he’s safe if anything was suspicious. 

“There are no heat signatures inside of the house although a bird flew in and is currently sitting on the kitchen counter.” FRIDAY replied and Tony sighed. Of course that would happen. 

Peter lifted his head off of Tony’s shoulder to look around the house curiously. Tony stepped in and shut the door, locking it behind him and double checking it. 

“There’s a bird in the house, Peter.” Tony told the child and then placed Peter on the floor now that he knew the ground wasn’t cold or had anything sharp that he could step on. Tony caught himself being parental and tried to stop himself… Peter wasn’t his kid but he had to admit that the kid was growing on him a lot. 

Peter grabbed onto Tony’s hand even though Tony had put him on the ground. Tony cupped the back of Peter’s head on instant. 

“What b… bird?” Peter asked Tony, looking up at Tony with curious eyes. 

“What’s a bird.” Tony corrected his grammar. It was weird to hear Peter ask that question even though Tony knew that Peter should know what a bird is. It doesn’t surprise Tony though considering where the kid came from. “A bird is an animal that can fly. There are all different kinds of birds with different colour feathers and sizes. They can lay eggs just like chickens can.” 

Peter was looking at Tony with his wide brown eyes that held so much curiosity. Tony loved to watch Peter as he learned new things which happened every single day, multiple times a day. Tony knew that Peter had a big brain and absolutely loved to learn new things. 

“I see! I wanna see it!” Peter jumped in excitement as they walked into the kitchen. 

Tony looked around for the bird when they got closer to the kitchen and then spotted it on the top of the counter picking away at Peter’s Cheerios. Peter tugged on Tony’s hand and pointed excitedly. 

“It bird. Bird is there.” Peter said to Tony. 

“Yeah. It’s a Robin, Pete.” Tony told him and looked back down at the boy. “Do you want to get a closer look at him?” 

Peter nodded his head and tugged on Tony’s hand to come with him but Tony wanted Peter to do it by himself. He wanted Peter to learn how to be independent and do things on his own but always know that Tony will be there to help him grow. 

“Come with.” Peter tugged again but Tony shook his head. 

“Go ahead, Pete. I’m right here.” Tony reassured him. He smiled when Peter let go of his hand and made his way over to the kitchen table cautiously. 

Peter walked up to the counter and was just tall enough to pear his head over the top if he stood on his tippy toes. Tony watched from afar with a huge smile on his face. 

The Robin bird must have seen Peter because it was flying away which caused Peter to let out an excited scream and run over to Tony’s side in his excitement. He jumped in front of Tony and pointed up to the bird that was flying around them. 

He struggled to get the words he wanted to say in his excitement so it ended up sounding like a bunch of gibberish to Tony but he still acted like he knew what Peter was saying. 

“Yeah, bud. He’s flying around us. Look at that.” Tony watched Peter instead of the bird because the happy, carefree look on Peter’s face was better than any bird flying around his head. 

Peter continued to say gibberish that Tony didn’t understand but then Tony thought about how he’s going to get the bird out of his house. He didn’t think about it when they first walked in because he wanted to show Peter but now there was an actual bird in their house. Great. 

Peter took off and started to pretend to fly around the living room with the bird which was absolutely adorable. Tony watched on with a genuine smile on his face as Peter imitated the bird. 

“How are we going to get him outside, Peter?” Tony asked the child who was having way too much fun but it was starting to get late and dinner still had to be cooked and eaten as well as showers and bedtime. 

Peter stopped to look at Tony while he painted heavily. “I dunno. Bird can stay.” 

Tony laughed at that. “The bird can’t stay here, bud. He wants to go home to his family and be free.” 

Peter tilted his head. “Be free? I make bird be free.” 

Tony watched Peter run to the wall but before Tony could stop him, Peter was sticking his hands and feet to the wall and climbing up it. Tony’s heart dropped. 

“Peter! Get down. That’s not safe.” Tony immediately ran under Peter so he could catch him just in case he fell. He had absolutely no idea how his spider stuff worked but it scared Tony. 

“I free bird.” Peter yelled and then to add to Tony’s panic, Peter jumped off the wall and shot a web out to catch himself. 

Tony froze. It was as if everything moved in slow motion yet all too fast at the same time. Peter was swinging from a freaking web in the middle of the living room. 

“Oh god. Come down please, Peter.” Tony all but begged the child. Peter had a grin on his face and then Tony realized as he lowered himself to the ground that Peter was holding the bird in his hand. “Okay. Okay. Let’s release the bird outside, okay?” 

Tony was about to have a full blown panic attack because of how Peter just threw himself off the wall while Peter was grinning like crazy. Probably feeling proud of himself for catching the bird. 

Tony rushed to open the back door and walked outside with Peter. “Say bye to the bird.” 

Peter opened his fist and let the bird go. “Bye bye bird. You free now.” 

Tony sighed in relief, watching the bird fly away. He led Peter back inside and kneeled down in front of him. “You did good, bud. But it’s really dangerous to climb up the wall like that so I don’t want you to do that again.” 

Peter simply shook his head and held out his hands. “I sticky. I can climb walls.” 

“Yes. I know you can but it’s dangerous.” Tony told him again and yet again Peter was shaking his head. 

“Not d… dan’erous. D-dangerous.” Peter said then walked away from Tony and started walking into the kitchen. 

Tony stood up and tried to think about what else he could say to Peter to tell him not to climb walls without Peter thinking it’s an order but then Peter paused and grabbed between his legs. He turned around to look at Tony but Tony already knew what was wrong. 

“Let’s go.” Tony quickly led Peter into the bathroom, following their bathroom routine. He pulled down Peter’s pants since Peter still refused to wear underwear and then he lifted him up onto the toilet seat. 

Peter immediately started going which Tony was extremely proud of. It usually took Peter a lot of reassuring for him to know that he was in fact allowed to use the toilet. This time he went right away which Tony was so proud of. 

Never in his life did Tony think that he would be watching someone go pee and then congratulate them for it later but here he was. “Good job, Peter. You did so well.” 

Peter grinned at Tony and then finished so Tony lifted him off the toilet and set him on the floor. “Can you pull your pants up by yourself now?” 

Peter’s smile fell. He shyly shook his head and pointed at Tony. “You do it.” 

“No. I want to see you try. Show me how you pull up your pants just like all the times I’ve done for you.” Tony still kept the excitement in his voice so Peter knew that he could do it himself. 

Peter hesitated but grabbed his pants and tugged them up to his waist the best he could, Tony had to help him a bit but otherwise Peter did it all by himself and Tony couldn’t be prouder. “Good job. I’m so proud of you.” 

Peter grinned. 

It was after dinner and shower time so Tony made some oatmeal for Peter before he went to bed. Tony remembered when his mother would make it for him when he was younger before bed. She used to drain all the oats out so it was just the liquid and then he used to drink it in a bottle while he fell asleep. Maybe he would do that for Peter one day but right now, he knows that a bowl and spoon will suffice. 

Tony sat down in Peter’s bed and waited for Peter to crawl up before he was handing him the bowl. “This will make you really sleepy and your tummy will be happy if you eat it.” 

Peter took the bowl from Tony and looked inside it then bent his head down to sniff it. “It… hot.” 

“Blow on it.” Tony explained to him and smiled when Peter started blowing on his oatmeal but was practically spitting in it. 

Tony needed to talk to Peter about earlier today when he left the house. It was Tony’s fault for not being extra careful and making sure that that never happens but he still needed Peter to know that it was wrong and it couldn’t happen again. 

“So, Peter,” Tony started. Peter looked up at him and waited for him to start talking. “today when you left the house, that was a very dangerous thing to do and you could have gotten hurt.” Or taken away from me and I’d never see you again. 

Peter nodded, eyes wide. 

Tony continued. “I want you to know that you can't ever leave the house like that again without me there to keep you safe.” 

Peter opened his mouth to say something but then closed it again. Tony waited patiently for him to find his words. “But… I get… bored. And I’d look for you. I wants you.” 

Peter’s sentences were absolutely horrible with his pronunciation and Tony knew it was because he was tired and stressed from trying to find the right words but he knew what Peter was trying to say and his heart burst. 

“I know, bud. But you have me. I’m right here and I promise I’ll always come back for you. Pinky promise.” Tony held out his pinky finger for Peter and smiled the the seven year old wrapped his tiny finger around Tony’s. 

“Pinky promise.” Peter repeated. 

Their fingers released and Tony stopped to stare at the kid. He was so innocent and pure. He reached his hand out to ruffle his curls without even giving it a second thought. 

Peter giggled and then picked up the spoon in his oatmeal and took a bite. His eyes lit up at taste and then he was shoveling spoon fulls down his throat. Oatmeal was definitely a success. 

Tony took the bowl from Peter after he was done and set it on the nightstand table. “Lie down, Petey. Close your eyes.” 

Peter did as he was told and reached a hand out to grab onto Tony’s shirt. Tony brushed Peter’s hair out of his face while he felt Peter’s grip slowly loosen on his shirt but Tony fell asleep next to him before Peter’s grip fell off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so first I want to say that the butterfly that flew by Tony was the same red butterfly that Peter was dancing with and also its Peter’s favourite colour- red! 
> 
> And also I looked up birds because birds symbolize freedom and I wanted a bird to fly into the house to symbolize something important and so Robins symbolize rebirth and freedom which is what is happening to Peter right now. He’s getting a second chance at life with Tony and basically finding who he’s supposed to be. 
> 
> “ We have already said that the robin has been known as a divine bird since long ago. This bird is the symbol of a spring song and good luck. It may also symbolize passion, new beginnings and renewal. Sometimes it may be also the symbol of wisdom and patience.” so I copy and pasted that but see, it symbolizes new beginnings which is exactly what Peter is with Tony 
> 
> “ To see Robin means you need to let go of what no longer serves you and find something else to bring you joy and happiness.” and this just makes me so emotional because Peter is trying to get rid of all the ways Hydra taught him and be who he’s supposed to be with Tony. 
> 
> Last thing, I thought it was important for Peter to free the bird and not Tony because it’s kinda like oh he has the power to free the bird so he can do the same with himself


	10. Never too late to start over

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Am I still here? Yeaaaaaa I’m sorry I haven’t updated in sooo long! I just got carried away with the days and I was writing my other fics but here it is.... unedited since I just wanted to get it posted now for you guys:) 
> 
> Enjoy!!

Tony woke up to his phone ringing in his pocket. 

He quickly shot up in bed and pulled his phone out so he could shut it off so it didn’t wake Peter up. 

He sighed in relief once the sound was off and then looked over at Peter who was still fast asleep. He was lying on his back and had his arms above his head. He also kicked the blankets off of him like he always did so Tony assumed it was because Peter wasn’t used to sleeping with any blankets. Maybe he wasn’t given any at Hydra. 

Tony covered Peter’s tiny body up with the blankets again and reached a hand out to brush his curls off his face. The action came so easy to him as if he had been doing it all of Peter’s life. 

Peter moved a bit on the bed and made a sound of contentment. He looked so peaceful in his sleep. Tony thought that if someone were to see Peter sleeping, they would think that he was like any other seven year old boy and not one raised by Hydra. 

It was weird to think like that, Peter was supposed to live a normal life with a family that loves him and not the life he was given. 

It wasn’t too late to start over and for Peter to have a proper life. 

Tony knows that Peter is still young. It’s not like he’s a twenty year old man, he’s a seven year old child who can still live a life. Tony thought about Peter finding a family with a husband and wife and maybe some other young kids that he could grow up in but the thought just seems wrong. 

Tony can’t picture Peter being with anyone but him. It almost seems… unnatural, as if Peter was always supposed to end up with him. 

He knows that’s not the truth, Tony knows that because he’s Tony Stark. There’s no way that he can raise a child and the whole world knows that. Although he always liked to prove the whole world wrong. After being pronounced dead then showing up alive three months later to announcing that he’s Iron Man. 

Tony shook his head and rubbed a hand over his face. He’s thinking about things that aren’t going to happen and he’s getting his hopes up for nothing. 

He knows that after he teaches Peter the basic knowledge that a seven year old needs to know then Peter will be taken away from him. He knows that so he doesn’t understand why that thought makes him feel so scared and uneasy. 

Tony was pulled from his thoughts as his phone rang again so he looked at the contact and saw that it was Natasha who was calling him. He quickly got off the bed and left the room, shutting the door quietly behind him. 

“Hello?” He said into the phone, trying his best to whisper and stay quiet. 

“How’s the boy?” Natasha asked, with a hint of amusement to her voice. Tony knew that she would never hurt Peter but he wasn’t going to willingly let her see his kid. No way. 

Tony walked down the hallway to his bedroom and quietly shut the door. “Why are you asking?” 

“I assume he’s still sleeping since you’re talking quiet and I can’t hear him talking in the background.” She observed. 

Tony tried to listen to see if he could hear any voices in the background but he couldn’t hear anything. “Do you need something? If not then I’m gonna go because I have a busy day ahead.” 

Natasha was silent for a few moments but when she spoke, all joking was gone from her voice. “I need you to come in. We need you to come in.” 

Tony sat down on the chair near his window seat and put his head in his hand. “I came in yesterday. And the day before that. Whatever you need me for, I’m sure it can be done with me at… where I am.” 

Tony knew what happened the last time he left Peter at home. He didn’t want anything like that happening again. 

“I wouldn’t be asking if it wasn’t serious. Fury wants you here to try and talk to the scientist.” Natasha explained and went to speak again but Tony cut her off. 

“Oh for fuck sake! Did you tell him? I swear to god if you did…” Tony didn’t care that he was threatening one if his closest friends, if she told Fury that he had the kid… 

“Relax daddy Stark. I didn’t tell anyone anything. I told you you can trust me.” Natasha reassured him and Tony rolled his eyes at the name. 

“I’m not his… dad. I’m not his dad.” Tony wasn’t even sure that sentence sounded right coming out of his mouth. It sounded like a lie even though it was the truth. 

“Whatever helps you sleep at night. Either way, I need you to come in.” Natasha said to him again, this time, more desperate. 

Tony sighed and stood up to start pacing. He was already thinking about everything that would go wrong if he left Peter alone again. 

“And what if I don’t come?” 

“I’ve already tried to get Fury off your ass without making it suspicious.” Natasha said to him. Tony was silently thankful for that. “I can’t keep him off for much longer without him coming to find you.” 

Tony kicked his bed frame but not hard. He didn’t want to wake Peter up. “Fine. What time do you need me at?” 

“The sooner the better.” 

“I need to get,” Tony almost said Peter’s name so he stopped himself. “I need to get the kid up and fed so give me two hours.” 

“Okay. I’ll tell Fury.” Natasha went to hang up but Tony stopped her. 

“And Nat, this is the last time I come. I’ll tell Fury to go fuck himself if he asks me again.” Tony hung up the phone after. He didn’t have the patience to deal with any Avengers business right now. 

He ran his hands through his hair once again and then opened his bedroom door but stoppikce he saw that Peter was standing there. Tony hoped that Peter didn’t hear any of that but he didn’t know how long the kid was standing there for. 

“Tony. You leave?” Peter asked, looking up at Tony with his big brown eyed. 

Tony kneeled down to Peter’s level and gave him a weak smile. So Peter did hear him. He’s also sure that Peter is a lot smarter than he gives him credit for. “Yeah, bud. I have to go back to the tower again today but I promise you, this will be the very last time.” 

Peter reached forward to grab onto the front of Tony’s shirt. “Yeah and-and… I comin’ with you.” 

Tony shook his head. Peter couldn’t come because then everybody would see that he had the kid and Fury would take Peter away from him. “No, Peter. You can’t come because it’s not safe for you.” 

Peter scrunched his face up. Tony noticed that he did that when he couldn’t figure out what he wanted to say or how to get the words out. “But… I safe with Tony. Always.” 

“I know.” Tony went to reach up to cup the side of Peter’s face but he stopped himself from doing that. “I just, I can’t protect you if I bring you to the tower. There’s a lot of bad people there who want to find you.” 

Peter let out a loud whine and let go of Tony’s shirt. “No hurtin’. Wha-what if they’s hurt you?” 

“They won’t hurt me, okay? You’re gonna stay here and not leave the house because it’s super dangerous and I’m gonna be really scared if you leave the house again.” Tony explained to Peter and stood up. He went to walk out of his bedroom to go to the kid’s bedroom but Peter stopped him. 

“I miss you when’s yous gone.” Peter hung his head and moved his foot forward to touch Tony’s foot with his. Tony watched the action and smiled, as simple as it was. 

“I miss you too but you know I’ll come back just like I always do.” Tony reassured Peter and started walking towards the bedroom again because he had to leave soon and he still had to get Peter dressed, fed, and set up with some games or something. 

Peter walked behind him, stepping exactly where Tony stepped but Tony thought that he was just playing around and using his imagination. 

Tony stopped by the pile of Peter’s clothes and sat down on the floor. He picked out two pairs of pants, shirts, socks and underwear so Peter could make a decision for himself as to what he wants to wear. 

Even though Peter had yet to wear any underwear since he hated them for some reason but Tony didn’t blame him. 

“What do you want to wear today?” Tony asked him, leaning against the bed frame. 

Peter stuck his fingers into his mouth as he thought. He squatted down and looked at all the options then he grabbed the red pair of socks, the red shirt and the blue track pants. 

Tony thought that the colours looked good together but the outfit choice was far from what he would choose. Peter walked over to him and placed the clothes gently in his lap but he didn’t grab any underwear. 

“You forgot to pick one thing, Pete.” Tony told him and pointed to the two pairs of underwear that were sitting there. 

Peter looked over at what Tony was pointing to but then he looked back at Tony and shook his head. Peter reached out to grab onto Tony’s hand and slowly lowered it. 

“Peter. You have to wear underwear.” Tony told him in a serious voice but also trying not to scare Peter or make him think that it was a direct order. 

Peter took his fingers out of his mouth. “No. I say no.” 

Tony sighed. “Let’s just try them on and see what they feel like, okay? If you really don’t like them before I leave then we can take them off.” 

Peter only stared at Tony so Tony reached forward and grabbed both pairs to hold them up in front of Peter. “What one does you want?” 

Peter grabbed the ones with sharks on it and threw it away but he must have attached a web to it because it was stuck to the wall above the light switch. 

Tony watched with wide eyes as Peter did that so easily. He looked over at Peter who looked like he was waiting for Tony’s reaction, to see if he was going to lash out at him or not. 

“Peter. We don’t do that.” Tony told him but Peter was shaking his head. 

“You don’. I do.” Peter pointed at Tony’s chest and then his own. 

Tony was speechless. He was getting sassed by a seven year old. 

“Well… I physically can’t do that but you shouldn’t do it.” Tony said to him but Peter was grabbing his hand. 

“I do it. No stop.” The child said to him and let go of his hand to stand directly in front of him. He tugged on the front of his pyjama pants. “Take off.” 

Tony didn’t know why he was getting bossed around by a child. He also knew that he had to start encouraging Peter to dress and undress himself which would take some time. 

“I want you to do it. I know you know how.” Tony said to him and gave Peter a reassuring smile. 

Peter tugged on his pants again and moved closer to Tony. “You do. Not me.” 

Tony sighed. If he had more time then maybe he would have helped Peter so it all himself but he didn’t have that much time. He reached forward and tugged Peter’s pyjamas off then tossed them to the side after Peter stepped out of them. 

Peter grabbed the blue track pants and handed them to Tony but Tony grabbed the underwear and held them out for Peter to step in.

“No.” Peter stomped backwards so Tony moved closer. 

“Just try them on.” Tony told Peter and Peter immediately started crying. Loud. It was the second time that Tony has heard the kid cry and it hurt him to listen to. He looked up at Peter’s face and saw that there were fresh tears pouring down his cheeks already. 

Even though Peter was crying, he still reluctantly stepped into the underwear and let Tony pull them up to his waist. 

Tony felt bad but Peter couldn’t walk around with no underwear. He helped Peter into his pants next with Peter still crying. Next was his shirt and socks and Tony waited the whole time for Peter to stop crying but he didn’t. 

After Tony was done getting Peter dressed and felt a headache coming on, he stood up and walked towards the door, passing by the underwear still webbed to the wall and admiring it. 

He looked back at Peter who was still standing there, crying. Tony sighed once again and made his way over to Peter. 

It was like Peter’s legs were glued to the floor. Tony picked him up about once inch off the ground but Peter’s legs stayed locked. 

“Peter. Walk.” Tony tried but Peter stayed still. 

He tugged on the front of his legs at the underwear so Tony sighed for the tenth time that morning. He tugged down Peter’s pants, helped him out of that and then pulled down his underwear and took that off. 

As soon as it was off, it was as if a switch had been turned off because the crying immediately stopped. Tony looked up at Peter who was dramatically wiping away his tears. 

“Is that better?” Tony asked, his ears ringing. 

Peter nodded and had the audacity to actually smile. “I like it.” 

Tony rolled his eyes but Peter tried to walk away. “Um, kid. You’re forgetting something.” Tony waved the pants in the air. 

Peter walked back over to Tony and stepped into the track pants. “Tony. I wan’ um, the… fluffy.” 

Tony didn’t understand Peter’s mood swings. “Um… pancakes you mean?” 

Peter nodded excitedly, a huge smile appearing on his face. “Yeah! Pan cakes.” 

“It’s one word, bud.” Tony explained to Peter, happy that he was in a better mood but confused and stressed about how he’s gonna get Peter to wear underwear. He supposed it didn’t matter since he was the only one seeing Peter. 

Tony stood up and went to walk away with Peter following him but then Peter was rapping him on the back and lifting his arms up to be carried. 

Tony looked down at Peter and hesitated. He thought back to last night how he held Peter for a long time and how much Peter liked it. 

Peter lifted his arms up more desperately for Tony so Tony lifted Peter up and set him on his hip. “Do you like to be held?” He asked as he walked down the hallway and towards the baby gate at the top of the stairs. 

Peter nodded his head. “I like it.” 

Tony was glad Peter liked to be held because he was finding that he liked to hold Peter probably even more. 

Tony opened up the gate and shut it once again then walked down the stairs. He set Peter on his feet once they reached the bottom on the stairs and expected Peter to run off into the kitchen like he always did but this time he stayed by Tony’s side and slowly grabbed onto Tony’s hand to hold. 

The two of them walked towards the kitchen like that while Tony was trying not to freak out but he was on the inside. Peter was making huge progress and Tony couldn’t be prouder. 

“So you want pancakes for breakfast?” Tony asked even though he already knew the answer. He began to get everything out of the cabinets that was needed to make the pancakes. 

Peter climbed up onto the counter and hesitantly watched for Tony’s reaction. 

Tony looked over and saw that Peter was sitting on the counter with his legs stretched out in front of him. He placed the bowl onto the counter and looked at the kid. “What’re you doing up there, Pete?” 

Peter looked down at his lap. “I sit.” 

“I can see that but we don’t sit on counters. We sit on chairs.” Tony explained to the boy and patted the counter top to try and show Peter what he was talking about. 

Peter looked up at him through his eye lashes. “I sit on… counter. Not chair.” 

Tony hesitated for a few seconds before letting Peter stay there. “Alright. Just keep your smelly feet out of the mix.” 

Peter giggled and reached down to touch his socked feet, wiggling his toes. 

“Okay, grab this egg,” Tony handed Peter the egg so Peter took it ever so carefully in both of his hands. “then smash it against the bowl to let the yolk out.” 

Peter brought the egg up to his face to examine it. “Egg. White and… cold.” 

“Yeah, good job buddy. Do you want to see what colour the inside is?” Tony asked, pushing the bowl closer to Peter. 

Peter nodded his head and then gently tapped the egg against the side of the bowl then looked up at Tony. 

“Almost. You gotta do it harder. Let me show you,” Tony grabbed the egg from Peter and cracked it against the bowl then handed the shell to Peter so he could examine it. 

Although Peter was too interested with the yolk on the inside of the egg. He slowly stuck his hand into the bowl and poked the yellow part, breaking it open. He gasped a bit and looked up at Tony with wide eyes. 

“Does it feel funny?” Tony asked as he got out the other ingredients. 

Peter smiled then stuck his finger in his mouth to lick it off. 

After they finished making their pancakes together and eating it, Tony had to go get ready to leave since he was already going to be late because he got carried away with time while making pancakes with Peter. 

“Where go?” Peter asked Tony after Tony wipes his face and hands with a wet cloth. 

“I have to get dressed now, Pete.” Tony explained to Peter and started to walk up the stairs. 

Peter climbed off the counter top and followed Tony up which Tony wasn’t surprised about since Peter was like his little puppy dog now, following him around everywhere. And escaping the house to go to the park. 

Tony walked into his bedroom and went into his closet to grab a suit that he could wear while Peter followed him in. 

Peter grabbed onto the clothes that were hanging up and he started to swing from them. Tony knew he should say no because Peter couldn’t be swinging from his clothes in his closet but he also wanted the kid to have some fun and not set up too many rules in the house. 

Peter was happily swinging from his clothes which yes, if Peter was a normal kid then Tony would definitely be telling the kid to stop but Peter was different and so he wanted him to have some fun. 

So Tony grabbed his clothes and walked past Peter to go into the bathroom to change and get ready but Peter started following him and walked into the bathroom. 

“No, you come out. I need to change.” Tony told him and stood by the door but Peter looked at him confused. 

“You change?” Peter asked him, walking over to Tony to look directly up at him. 

“Yeah, kid. I gotta leave, remember?” Tony walked into the bathroom to put his clothes on the bathroom counter. 

“Yeah. ‘Member. I go pee, Tony.” Peter suddenly grabbed the front of his pants to hold himself and Tony remembered that he didn’t even take Peter to relieve himself that morning. 

“Oh sh- yes. I’m sorry. Come here.” Tony walked over to the toilet and kneeled down so he could help Peter with his pants and lift him onto the seat. 

Once Peter was done, Tony lifted Peter up, pulled his pants up and took his hand so he could lead Peter out of the bathroom. 

“Give me five minutes.” Tony told him, letting go of Peter’s hand by the bed and turning to leave but Peter was following him again. “No, bud. You can’t come in.” 

Peter pointed to himself. “I help.” 

Tony chuckled, knowing that Peter couldn’t even get dressed by himself so there would be no chance that Peter could get him dressed. “It’s okay. I can do it by myself but I need you to do something for me,” 

Peter’s eyes lit up at the mention of him being able to help in any way. 

“I need you to put these clothes into two piles for me. Can you do that?” Tony asked Peter and pointed to the clean clothes that were in the hamper. 

Peter nodded his head. “Yes. I can do it.” 

Tony just looked at Peter in surprise for a few seconds. Peter spoke in a full sentence for the very first time. Woah. “Good job, buddy. I’m so proud of you.” 

Tony left Peter after that and took his stuff into the bathroom so he could get ready. Ten minutes later, he walked out of the bathroom and saw that Peter was still putting everything into two piles. He was sorting it in an interesting way. 

He put all the clothes that had red or blue on them in one pile and put the other clothes that didn’t have any red and blue on them in the other pile. 

Tony walked behind Peter and cupped the back of his head, noticing that he needs to have another shower tonight. “Good job, Peter. Look at that, so amazing. I’m so proud of you.” 

Peter turned to smile up at him. “I do it so good.” 

Tony smiled. “You do. Look, buddy, I’m gonna leave now. Okay? I’m gonna take you downstairs so you can play with your blocks while I’m gone. I’ll be three hours.” 

Tony held up three fingers and Peter copied the action. 

“Three. One, two, three, then you come back to me.” Peter said and Tony didn’t know if he planned to rhyme that or not but it sounded like a song. 

“Yep. One, two, three, then I come back to you.” Tony smiled at Peter for a few long seconds as he thought. He could do this. He could raise this kid himself, couldn’t he? He was basically doing it right now. 

Even though this was different. If he was serious about it then he knew he couldn’t keep Peter hidden for his whole life. It wouldn’t be fair to Peter. Peter had to live a life that didn’t have four walls and a roof. It wasn’t what he deserved. 

Tony wanted to show him the world. 

He wanted to show Peter the ocean and teach him how to swim, he wanted to take him in a water slide, definitely when he’s a lot older though. 

But before he could do all that, he had a long process ahead of them. He needed to teach Peter how to get dressed and go to the bathroom on his own for starters. 

He wanted this though, he wanted this life. With Peter. Him and Peter. 

Peter reached out to cup Tony’s face like Tony had done to him so many times, pulling Tony from his thoughts in the process. Peter then grinned and leaned his head forward to press a kiss onto Tony’s cheek. 

Tony smiled at him, having a feeling that Peter would do just that. He pressed a kiss to Peter’s cheek then stood up. “I gotta go now. Walk with me downstairs.” 

Peter stood up from the floor as well and grabbed onto Tony’s hand to be led downstairs. Tony opened up the baby gate and shut it behind him then walked Petet over to the couch so he could have a little talk with him before he leaves. 

He sat down next to Peter and let go of his hand but Peter reached for it again. Tony began. “Okay, Peter, I’m going to be leaving you here for three hours. When I am gone, you do not leave the house. It is very dangerous out there without me and I don’t want you getting hurt so no leaving the house.” 

Peter pointed to Tony’s chest. “You leave by yourself.” 

Tony nodded. “Yes, I do leave by myself because I’m big so I can take care of myself.” 

Peter stood up and showed Tony his muscles but there was nothing there. “I strong. I seven fingers.” 

Tony smiled at Peter’s innocent words. “I know you are but seven years old is still too young. I will take you outside soon.” 

Tony thought about taking Peter into the backyard but there wasn’t much there and Tony didn’t know how safe it was. 

Peter sighed loudly. “Don’t go. Stay.” 

“I’ll be back soon. You can play while I’m gone.” Tony stood you from the couch and let go of Peter’s hand then walked towards the front door. He glanced back at Peter and saw that he was looking over the couch, watching Tony with wide eyes. 

Tony opened the door and left after that. 

He got in his car and drove to the tower, only being fifteen minutes late but Natasha was there to harass him as soon as he stepped out of his car. 

“Fifteen minutes, Stark.” Natasha said and tapped her watch. 

Tony slammed his car door. “You waiting up for me now, romanoff?” 

Natasha didn’t show any sign that she was annoyed but she had this curious look in her eyes and Tony was just waiting for her to say it. 

“I’m guessing you’re late because of the boy.” She said as they got into the elevator together and headed to the floor that Tony assumed everyone else was on. 

“No, I decided to stop and feed some ducks along the way. Yes, it’s because of him.” The elevator doors opened and Natasha went to walk out but Tony grabbed her arm and pulled her back into the elevator. “Don’t you dare say anything about him once we are in that room. My word still stays.” 

Natasha looked at Tony like she expected that. “Someone’s protective. That doesn’t surprise me but what does surprise me is who you are so protective over.” 

With that, Natasha walked out of the elevator, leaving Tony standing there to think about what she just said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did Tony leave Peter home alone again? Yes he did. Will Tony ever learn? After he comes back home to find out what is happening at the house, yes he will. 
> 
> I promise promise promise that the next chapter will be up on Saturday! I have huge plans for it and I wanted to write it in this chapter but it would have been way too long so I’ll see you all this Saturday!


	11. I am rising in the sea of nothing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonjour! 
> 
> Just like I promised!

Tony caught up to Natasha and walked beside her, knowing better than to bring up Peter again in front of potential Avengers listening in. 

She led him into a room and let him walk in first. It was a room that was fairly small. It had four chairs lined up against a desk that faced onto an interrogation room. 

Tony walked more into the room and saw Vlad Smirnov sitting at a desk in the room beyond the one way glass. Tony felt sick just looking at that man. 

He didn’t know if the man had ties to Peter but Tony knew that the man knew about the kid and what was going on there. It was obvious and everything that Natasha told him about the man all pointed to signs that he knew. 

“Stark. I’m glad you could finally make it in.” Fury said, taking a second to glance up at Tony before going back to writing something down in a notebook. 

Tony walked further into the room so he could sit down in the chair at the end, away from Fury and Clint who was also there but looked pissed off. 

Natasha took a seat in between Clint and Tony and grabbed the notebook from Fury. “Did you talk to him at all?” 

Fury stood up to pace the small room. “Not since you last went in there. I want Stark to talk to him.” 

Tony already knew that from what Natasha told him but he didn’t understand why Fury wanted that so badly. “Just let Natasha go in. I don’t have any information on him to try and talk to him.” 

“I’ll tell you everything you need to know, Stark.” Fury started. “There was a kid at Hydra. A kid that they turned into some super soldier like Steve’s good old friend. And I want to know where they took the kid.” 

Tony turned on his chair so he could look at Fury. “It sounds like you want this so badly so how about you go in there and talk to him. Ask him for yourself, don’t get me to do your dirty work for you.” 

Fury picked up the notebook and slapped it down in front of Tony so Tony read the points that were scribbled on it. 

Spider? Spider abilities?   
Super strength   
Kid. Boy or girl?   
Super soldier? 

From what the list told Tony was that they didn’t know much about Peter and that helped calm him a bit. Peter was safe for now. 

He could easily answer all of these questions plus more but he wasn’t going to. No matter what. It was his responsibility to keep Peter safe. 

Natasha waited for Tony to say something but when he didn’t, she stood up. “I’ll go in. Give me fifteen minutes with him.” 

Tony was grateful for her but he didn’t say anything or show it. Not with Fury and Clint there. He sat back and flicked on the speaker so they could hear what they were saying. 

Natasha walked in and sat in front of the man. “I want to know about the child that was at the Hydra base with you.” 

The guy leaned back in his chair, handcuffs rattling with his movements. “I told you the last time you came in here, I don’t know where he is.” 

Tony knew that Natasha knew that the man was telling the truth which was why she wasn’t going so hard on him. 

Natasha leaned back in her own chair, mirroring the man’s position. “But you worked with the child, correct? I know that you were one of the scientists that worked on the child.” 

The man tensed, having no idea that Natasha knew about that. “I Uh, sometimes. The kid… he was, young. We couldn’t do much without his parents permission at first and they wanted to do everything themselves.” 

Tony was interested at that. He knew that Peter’s parents were murdered even if it was declared a suicide. 

“Elaborate.” Natasha demanded. 

Vlad Smirnov hesitated at first. He looked behind Natasha at the glass. “The kid’s parents used Hydra for their resources. For their power and protection. Richard, the kids dad, worked at Hydra but he was going to leave then it was his wife’s idea to get pregnant and inject the serums that they invented into the fetus. The kid was born part spider already. I didn’t do anything until after his parents died.” 

Tony already knew most of that but it was interesting to know more. 

Natasha didn’t look convinced. “So his parents died? Then you came in?” 

The man nodded his head. “Yes.” 

“So why were you assigned to the child’s case seven years ago? When he was born.” Natasha asked, already knowing the answer. 

The man tensed again. He looked back up at the one way glass and then back at Natasha. “Look, his parents were murdered because they kept getting in the way with some of the work of the doctors.” 

“Like your work?” Natasha asked. 

The man shook his head. “No, not mine. His parents… they didn’t want to go through with what Hydra wanted to make of him. Mary and Richard just wanted to see if they could create Arachnid species in humans while Hydra wanted something more. Something more powerful.” 

“Like The Winter Soldier?” Natasha asked. 

The man nodded his head. “Yeah, exactly. The kid was too young though so they had to wait until he was older.” 

“What were you doing in the meantime? Were you training him? Teaching him how to kill?” She asked and Tony leaned in on his chair more. 

The guy shook his head again. “No. Not at all. We didn’t do anything with him but test his abilities to see what he was fully capable of. Shooting webs, climbing up walls, lifting an entire car. Things like that.” 

Tony felt his heart drop. Peter could lift an entire car? That didn’t seem right. 

“You had to have done something. Some sort of training.” Natasha pushed forward, trying to get more important information. 

“No. We planned on waiting until he was older. Until he could actually talk at least.” The scientist explained and Tony wanted to punch him just for that. 

“He’s seven you said, and he doesn’t talk? Do you guys not let him?” Natasha asked, no emotion showing on her face but Tony knew that she was mad. 

The man shook his head once again. “We let him talk. He just babbles on about one thing or the other but we ignore him. He likes to repeat what we say a lot. That’s about it.” 

That made a lot more sense for Tony. It made sense why Peter could be so bossy and demanding at times. 

Natasha leaned forward on her chair. “Where is the child?” 

The man slammed his hands down on his desk out of anger. Natasha didn’t flinch. “I don’t know! I told you. For all I know you… Avengers could have taken him.” 

“If we did then you wouldn’t be here right now.” 

The guy rolled his eyes and Tony wanted to punch him. “Then the kid is dead. We don’t have him and you don’t so he’s dead. Simple as that.” 

Natasha stood up to leave. She got all the information she needed. Just as she was about to open the door, Vlad spoke up. 

“Aren’t you going to ask me about Barnes?” 

Everyone froze, including Tony. 

Natasha turned back around but she didn’t sit. “The Winter Soldier. Why would I ask you about him?” 

The guy looked happy with himself. “Because… you sent him back to our base to try and get the kid a while back. He failed. Obviously. Then we had to relocate to the one you guys came in.” 

Tony moved forward on his seat. 

Natasha crossed her arms and looked at Vlad. “We didn’t send him anywhere.” 

Vlad looked confused for a few seconds but then shrugged his shoulders. “Well then someone sent him for the kid because it was all he wanted.” 

Just then, Tony felt his phone go off with an alert so he looked down and saw that the front door had been opened from the outside. 

All the blood drained from his face and he was up in an instant and left the room. “I gotta go.” 

Fury stood up to stop him but he was too slow. “Stark! Stark! Get your ass back here!” 

Tony ignored him and started running down the hall and into the elevator. He pressed the button for the garage and tried to stop himself from having a panic attack right there. This whole time he was worried about Peter leaving the house, not even thinking about the possibility of someone breaking in. 

He needed to get to Peter. 

.  
.  
.

Peter felt sad after Tony left but he knew that Tony would come back to him soon so he tried to busy himself with some toys. 

He grabbed all the cushions off the couch and stacked them up high so he could climb to the top and see how long he could balance on there for before falling off and landing hard on the floor. 

“Ow! I hurtin’.” Peter grabbed onto his arm and held it close to his side because the floor hurt him! 

He stood up after his arm stopped to hurt him and went to go look at the clock to see if Tony would be back soon. He knew that Tony said three hours but it hasn’t even been one full hour yet and that made him sad. 

Peter ran over to the kitchen and climbed onto the counter so he could grab his sippy cup and drink his apple juice. 

He was about to go back to the living room and continue to play but there was noise coming from the front door where Tony left so Peter jumped off the counter and ran to the door to see Tony. 

He was home really quickly but Peter wouldn’t complain about that. He stood excitedly in front of the door but something didn’t feel right. 

There was a chill that ran up his body that caused him to back away from the door. 

Someone was repeatedly banging on the door and the wood was falling from the frame of the door. Peter took a step back when the door was kicked in and a man walked in. 

Peter immediately recognized him. He was the same man with the metal arm from the night that Tony saved him. 

Maybe he was here to take him back to the bad place. Peter let out a scream and turned to run away but the man reached forward and grabbed Peter by the arm. 

“Peter. Stop struggling. I’m not going to hurt you.” The metal armed man said to him but Peter didn’t believe him. He tried to get out of the scary man’s hold so he sent a strong kick into his stomach which had the man falling backwards and Peter landing on his side. 

“I hurtin’! Go ‘way! Yous bad!” Peter yelled at him after he stood up and looked at his arm that had a small cut on it from his fall. 

The man stood up and looked at Peter, confused. “Peter. You have to come with me. I knew I couldn’t take you from Hydra myself so I had to cause a distraction.” 

Peter didn’t understand what the scary man was saying. He didn’t like him. Peter let go of his arm and walked back towards the living room. “I say leave!” 

The man stood up and followed Peter onto the living room but Peter started to run in the direction of the kitchen so he grabbed the kid and held him around his stomach with his metal arm. 

“Get the hell away from him!” Yelled Tony once he arrived at his house. He walked in and did not expect to see what he saw. 

Barnes was holding Peter with his metal arm around his stomach. Tony saw red. 

He activated his wrist gauntlet and aimed it at Bucky's face. “Put him down or I swear to god I blow your face off!” 

Peter struggled and tried to reach out for Tony. “Tony! Yous back!” 

Tony ignored Peter because he was focused on Bucky. No way in hell was he going to let Barnes take his kid back to Hydra. 

“Stark. I can’t let him go.” Bucky said, almost sadly. 

Tony took a step closer. “Let him go.” He whispered, almost desperately. 

Peter wiggled out of Bucky’s arms and dropped to the floor then ran over to Tony and crashed into his legs. Tony felt a lot better now that he had Peter near him. He cupped the back of Peter’s head and pushed him behind his legs. 

Bucky stared down at Peter for a few seconds with a distant look on his face and then he moved his shoulder which had his metal arm before making a run towards Tony. 

Tony grabbed Peter’s by his shirt so he could lift him up and throw him out of the way as Barnes came at him. 

Tony aimed his gauntlet but Bucky grabbed his arm so his shot hit the wall, putting a hole in it. Tony punched the man in the face but he knew he was up against a super soldier so without his full suit, he wasn’t a match at all. 

Bucky head butted him so Tony grabbed onto his face then aimed his gauntlet and shot Bucky in the arm. He looked over at Peter who was just standing up and looking at Tony with wide eyes. 

Since Tony was distracted, Bucky grabbed his arm and tried to rip the gauntlet off of his hand so Tony took that as his opportunity to send another shot at him. 

Bucky recovered quickly though and looked at Tony with his hair falling in his face. “I’m not taking him back. I was the reason he got out.” 

Tony tried not to let that throw him off. “I was the one who got him out. Not you.” 

Bucky picked him up by the neck and tossed him so he hit the same wall. 

“Noooo!” Peter screamed, very loudly and ran towards Tony. 

Tony was fine. He just got the wind knocked out of him. Peter stood in front of him and held his arm out in the signature Iron Man pose. 

“Stay ‘way! Don’ hurt Tony!” Peter demanded but Bucky was walking towards the two of them again. 

Tony quickly went to get up so he could move Peter out of the way but before he could, Peter was lifting his tiny leg up and kicking Bucky in the stomach, sending him flying backwards so he smacked into the wall all the way across the room. 

Tony sat you and looked at what just happened with wide eyes. He saw Bucky getting up on the other side of the room so Tony stood up and grabbed Peter by the arm and ran towards the door that was now broken down. 

He ran over to the driver’s seat and threw Peter over to the passenger seat then got in, started the car and drove away. 

His heart was beating a mile a minute at what just happened and what he just saw his seven year old kid do. The scientist said Peter could lift a car up so just how strong was he. 

Peter sat up on his knees and looked out the window. He was scared but he felt better now that Tony was with him. He looked over at Tony and could feel the anger and fear radiating off of him. “Tony. I bad?” 

Tony took a couple calming breaths to try and get his heart to stop beating so quickly. He took a second to glance over at Peter and couldn’t help but smile at his face. “No. No… you’re not bad. You saved me.” 

Peter smiled at that but his smile dropped when he reached his hand out to touch Tony’s chest. “Fast.” 

Tony knew that Peter was referring to his heartbeat. He clenched the steering wheel and kept checking in his rearview mirror for any signs of the super soldier. Part of him knew that he should call Natasha and tell her what just happened but he wasn’t in the right mindset to think forward in that moment. 

Steve could wait a little bit longer before he gets any leads on his old best friend that turned into an assassin. 

Peter tugged on Tony’s arm. “Tony. Yous sad?” 

Tony forced a smile. “No. I’m not sad. I just… I got scared for you, but. That’s all.” 

Peter sat up straighter and puffed out his chest. “I so strong. I big.” 

Tony smiled genuinely at that. “Yes you are, kid. Very strong.” 

Tony ended up driving to Philadelphia. He didn’t know why he planned on going there but it was just where he was led to. He knew that the tower wasn’t safe right now and definitely not his and Peter’s house so he just got on the highway and drove until he ended up in Philadelphia. 

He realized way too late that he should have put a seatbelt on Peter or sent him to the backseat but it didn’t even cross his mind. 

After a two house drive, Tony pulled off the highway in a small town just outside of Phili. It was quiet with not many cars around which was perfect. 

Tony drove up to a gas station and parked his car. “Hey, Pete?” 

Peter had been sitting on the seat with his legs crossed and looking out the window the whole way with curious eyes, occasionally pointing to something interesting that caught his eye and showed Tony. 

Peter looked up at him. 

“I need to go inside and get a few things so I need you to crawl into the backseat and stay down until I come back, okay?” Tony asked him. He knew that there was no way that Barnes followed them but he was still on high alert. 

Fear immediately crossed Peter’s face as he shook his head. “No. You stay.” 

“I need to get some things and you can’t come.” Tony explained to him and pointed to the backseat. “Crawl back there for me.” 

Peter pointed to him. “For you?” 

“Yeah, for me.” Tony said and watched Peter crawl into the backseat. “Can you lie down and stay like that until I get back, okay? I’ll be five minutes.” 

Tony opened his door and double checked that Peter was lying down before he left the car, triple checking that it was locked. He walked into the gas station, knowing that he stood out because he was wearing a suit that was untucked and messed up and also because he was Tony Stark. 

He was thankful that there weren't many people in the gas station besides one other man at the till. He grabbed a pair of sunglasses and two baseball hats then went to the till so he could pay and leave. 

He walked back to his car and got in then looked in the backseat and saw Peter still lying down. “Wanna come sit back up here with me?” 

Peter sat right up with a smile on his face and crawled over the center console and back into his seat. 

He placed the bag on Peter’s lap. “Look inside.” 

Peter excitedly opened the plastic bag and looked inside. He excitedly pulled out both hats and the sunglasses and looked at Tony. “What’s this?” 

Tony smiled at the fact that Peter’s speech is getting better even though he can slip up at times. “It’s a baseball cap and sunglasses. See.” 

Tony grabbed the hat and put it on Peter who tried to look up so he could see the hat on his head. Tony laughed at him. “Do you like it?” 

Peter nodded. “It nice. I like it.”

Tony pulled out his phone while Peter looked at the other hat and sunglasses and he searched for hotels near them. He didn’t want to go to some shabby motel so he needed to find something reputable. 

Once he found the five star hotel, he started the car and pulled out of the gas station. 

It was a twenty minute drive into the city which would make it just after four in the afternoon but Peter hadn’t eaten lunch and he knows that Peter hadn’t gone to the bathroom since he woke up. 

Tony pulled up to the hotel and parked the car. He handed the hat to Peter who put it on himself and grinned. Tony grabbed the sunglasses and put them on Peter. “Keep these on until we get to our room.” 

“Our room? We at house?” Peter asked, very confused as he looked outside at the surroundings. The hotel was fifty stories high so Tony didn’t even want to know what was running through his kids mind. 

“No, bud. We’re at a hotel. It has lots of rooms where people can sleep in, usually on vacation or when travelling.” Tony explained to him. He watched Peter scrunch his face up which was what Tony noticed he did when he was trying to understand something he then looked up at the hotel with wide eyes. 

Tony opened his car door and put his hat on and held his arms out for Peter. Peter crawled over the centre console and raised his arms up to Tony so Tony lifted him up and set him on his hip. 

Peter looked around at the outside word with huge eyes. Tony could barely see them behind the sunglasses but he knew that this whole experience was extremely new and exciting for Peter. 

He shut his car door, locking it behind him then walked to the front entrance to get a room. “When we go inside you have to stay quiet.” 

Peter turned to look at him and then smacked him on the chest. “No. No stay quiet. ‘Member?” 

Tony wanted to slap himself across the face. He forgot about their little pinky promise. “Oh sh- right. I’m sorry.” 

Peter pointed to the road. “Cars. They drivin’.” 

Tony nodded his head but didn’t look. “There’s lots of cars on the road, bud.” 

Tony pushed his way through the doors and walked over to the front desk, trying to turn Peter’s face away from the woman. Tony knew that it was Peter’s first time seeing someone other than him and Barnes. And all the goons at Hydra. 

“Oh, Tony Stark. How can I help you, sir?” The woman asked. 

“I’d like one room please.” Tony could see Peter staring at the woman on the corner of his eye but all he could do was hope that Peter didn’t say anything. 

“Of course.” The woman began typing away on her computer and then placed two key cards on the table. “Your room is number 507 on the forty-second floor. How long do you plan on staying for?” 

Tony grabbed the key cards and handed one to Peter to play with. “Uh, I’m not sure yet. Thank you.” 

Tony then left the front desk and walked towards the elevator, hoisting Peter up on his hip a bit. He just hoped he didn’t get peed on. 

“What this?” Peter asked, looking at the key card in his hand. He tried to reach for Tony’s so Tony handed it to him. 

“It’s our key card. It’s how we get into our room.” Tony told Peter and then walked into the elevator he walked over to the buttons so Peter could see. “”Can you press number forty-two?” 

Peter smiled and looked at the buttons. His eyes travelled all the way up until they landed on the right button so he reached out and pressed it. “I did it.” 

“You’re so smart.” Tony ruffled his hair and waited until they reached the top floor. Then he walked out while keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. “Look for room number 507.” 

Tony told Peter and walked down the long hallway until he spotted it but he waited for Peter to spot it so Peter could feel like he helped out. “‘Dare! I see it!” 

“Good, buddy. Now put the card into the slot and it’ll turn green which means that we can enter.” Tony explained to him and grabbed Peter by his chest so he could lower him closer to the lock. 

Peter struggled at first but eventually got it into the slot so Tony opened the door and set Peter on his feet, shaking out his arm that went a bit numb from carrying the kid up. 

Peter stayed close to Tony’s side as they walked into the room. “Dark, Tony. Lights on.” 

Tony felt around the wall for the light switch and turned it on, lighting up their room where they were going to hide away for the next few days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys liked that! It was so much fun to write and I’m so excited to write the next chapter! I hung out with my friend today for the first time in like 5 months and it was sooooo much fun! Idkk why I didn’t want to go with her before!


	12. It all begins with you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like this chapter is a bit more slow and NOTHING happens really so it’s just a cute little chapter for you guys until we get into the other stuff but yea I hope you guys like it:)

The light lit up the large room. There were two king sized beds with huge bay windows that had the curtains closed and it would stay that way. 

Tony walked more into the room with Peter following him and holding onto his butt so Tony grabbed Peter’s hand so he wasn’t touching him there. 

“It’s okay, Peter. You can walk around the room. We’re going to be staying here together for a bit.” Tony told Peter and gently pushed him a bit so Peter would walk by himself and look around the room. 

There was a small living room with couches and a tv along with a small kitchen off to the side. Tony walked into the bathroom but as soon as Peter saw that he was going into a new room, he followed. 

Peter peeked around Tony’s legs and pushed past him once he found out what the room was. Tony knew that Peter had a love for showers since he knew that the kid didn’t get to have any proper showers at Hydra. 

Peter pointed at the shower that looked a lot different from the one at home. He made a noise to get Tony’s attention and pointed at the shower again. 

Tony walked towards him and kneeled down in front of him so he was closer to Peter’s height. “Use your words, Peter. I know you know what that is called.” 

Peter grinned shyly and pointed at the shower again. “Shower.”

Tony ruffled his curls. “Good job, buddy.” Tony knew that Peter knew a lot more words than he was letting on. Tony was sure that he knew how to pronounce most words but refused to say them properly. 

He doesn’t know why. Maybe because no one corrected him at Hydra. That would be the most likely scenario. 

Tony stood up and checked the time. He would have been back at the house by now and cooking lunch for Peter but now he can’t do that. 

Peter was peeking in the shower so Tony walked over to him to get Peter’s attention. “Are you hungry?” 

Peter looked up at Tony and nodded his head then lifted up his shirt to rub his belly. “Yeah. I’s am hungry.” 

“You are hungry?” Tony asked to try and teach Peter the right way to pronounce words without actually telling him he’s pronouncing something wrong. 

Peter nodded his head and looked up at Tony, waiting for him to do something. 

Tony quickly decided what to do. It wasn’t like they could go to a grocery store and get food or go to a restaurant. He also knew that they could order food up to the room but they had to leave anyway since Tony had to go to the shops in the hotel to grab a few items for their stay. 

He also couldn’t ask Peter what he wanted to eat since Peter only knew Cheerios and mac and cheese. And Tony didn’t want to feed Peter burgers since he didn’t know what Peter’s stomach was used to so the last thing he wanted to do was get Peter sick with a stomach ache all night. 

Tony walked back into the bedroom and put his hat back on and held his hand out for Peter. “Come, buddy.” Peter ran over to him with his arms raised so Tony picked him up and set him on his hip. “We’re gonna go get some yummy lunch and then do some shopping for some things. So you have to wear your hat and sunglasses.” 

Tony put the hat on Peter and the sunglasses but Peter took the sunglasses off this time. “No. No sunglasses. I no like.” 

Tony put the sunglasses on Peter again only for Peter to take them off and throw them across the room then he looked at Tony for the man’s reaction. “I say no, Tony.” 

There wasn’t much Tony could do about that. He didn’t know if he should tell Peter no for throwing things or if he should let Peter get away with it. 

Either way, that wasn’t a problem for now. 

He grabbed his phone and his wallet and left the hotel. He didn’t want to look too suspicious as he walked down the hallway with Peter by looking around but he couldn't help himself, he needed to make sure that Peter was safe and that was his responsibility. 

Tony carried Peter in the elevator without bumping into anyone and no one was in the elevator which he was really grateful for. 

“I do it.” Peter said and tried to reach for the button so Tony held him down a bit. 

“Press the one that says ‘lobby’.” Tony told him and as the elevator started moving he hoped so badly that no one would walk into the elevator. 

They were almost to the main lobby when the elevator stopped and Tony mentally cursed when the doors started opening and two women walked in. 

Peter was immediately interested in them since he never got to see anyone besides the ones at Hydra. Tony moved his body so he was blocking Peter’s view but Peter moved his head to try and look at them. 

Peter lifted his hand up to point at them and Tony knew that he was going to say something so he tried to distract Peter by handing him his phone. “Woah, look at this. Can you hold it for me?” 

Peter directed his attention to what Tony had in his hand. He grabbed the phone and brought his other hand over from around Tony’s neck to look at it. 

“‘Dis Mine?” Peter asked, looking at Tony with wide eyes. 

Tony smiled at Peter. He was glad the distraction worked for a bit. “Yeah, you can hold it for me until I need it again.” 

Peter looked at the phone and held it in his hands. Tony looked at his hands holding the phone and noticed how tiny Peter’s hands looked. He was never around kids so now having Peter, he’s noticing how small he really is when compared to things like his phone in his hands. 

The elevator doors opened and Tony walked out with Peter and looked around the lobby. There were a few people checking in and a few couples walking in the lobby or sitting on the chairs. 

Tony knew that his and Peter’s disguises weren’t great but no one was looking at them so hopefully it wasn’t too obvious that it was Tony Stark with a child. 

Peter pointed to a shop that had a red giant teddy bear in the front of it. “Red.” 

Tony looked over at it and chuckled. The bear was huge and Tony had no idea who on earth would buy that thing since he’s pretty sure it wouldn’t even fit through the hotel doors. 

Peter pointed at the bear more aggressively and struggled to be put down and Tony started to panic. He shifted Peter onto his other hip and hoped that that simple action helped but Peter was still wiggling to be put on the ground. 

“Down. I go see red one.” Peter put his hands on Tony’s shoulders and looked at him. 

Tony shook his head. “I’m not putting you down. I’ll walk over there to go see the stuffed bear if you stop squirming.” 

Peter scrunched his face up and Tony knew that it was because Peter was uncomfortable or angry. He wasn’t able to differentiate between the two just yet. “What s’uirmin’?” 

“Squirming.” Tony corrected him. “It’s what you’re doing. When you move around a lot when I’m trying to hold you.” 

Peter stopped squirming and pointed to the bear again that Tony was already walking over to. Once Tony walked over to the bear, Peter reached forward to gently touch the top of the bears head. 

He grinned and made a happy sound and quickly brought his hand back against his chest. Tony was watching Peter with his own smile on his face. He didn’t know what Peter was going to do next so he stayed silent and watched on. 

Peter reached his hand out again and started to pet the bear on top of its head. He reached his other hand out and grabbed both of its ears and started to babble on about something that Tony couldn’t understand. 

Before Tony even had the chance to process what Peter was doing, the kid was lifting the bear up that must have weighed about 80 pounds and no seven year old should be able to lift something that heavy. 

“Hey, no. Stop, put it down.” Tony whispered yelled. He pulled Peter’s hands away from the bear but then Peter looked at him with a huge frown. “You can’t pick the bear up because this is his home and you can’t take him from his home.” 

The frown left Peter’s face. “Home? I wan’ take bear home with Tony and Peter.” 

Tony smiled. “We can’t, buddy. Bear has to stay here because this is his home.” 

Peter gave a sharp nod and started wiggling in Tony’s arms again. Tony mentally swore and shifted Peter again to his other hip but then Peter let out a loud scream that caused a few heads to turn. 

“Peter. No.” Tony warned him and Peter smacked Tony on the chest. 

“Yes. Down.” Peter demanded and Tony knew that Peter would start screaming again so he placed Peter on the floor reluctantly. He also knew that it was his responsibility to teach Peter that what he did was wrong but he didn’t know how to go about that so he let it slide. 

Peter started to pet the teddy bear's fur and Tony stood directly behind him just to keep him safe but then Peter saw something in the shop that caught his attention and he made a run for it. 

Tony chased after him and tried to grab onto Peter’s arm but he missed. 

Peter ran over to a blanket that was white and had Winnie the Pooh on it, holding hands with Piglet with a red balloon flying away in the distance. 

Peter grabbed the blanket and started to jump up and down while he squealed excitedly. Tony would have found the scene adorable if he wasn’t so concerned about the stares that Peter was receiving. 

Tony quickly made it over to Peter’s side just as Peter was hugging the blanket and rubbing his face on it. Tony kneeled down in front of Peter and grabbed his arm. “Do you like it?” 

Peter nodded his head and pointed at Piglet. “Peter.” He then pointed at Pooh. “Tony.” 

Tony was caught off guard. Screw everyone watching them, that was too precious. “Yeah, bud. That’s Piglet and Pooh.” 

Peter’s face scrunched up again and he went to grab his bum. “Poo poo?” 

“No, Pete.” Tony started laughing. “Not that kind of poo. His band is Pooh bear. It’s Winnie the Pooh.” 

Peter grinned and started bouncing on his feet. “Yeah. Winnie poo poo.” 

Tony smiled. “Do you want it? It can be your blankie.” 

Peter grabbed the soft blanket and nodded his head and went to walk away but Tony grabbed his arm. “Let’s get the one that is still in the package.” 

Tony grabbed a new one and took the other one from Peter to do a quick switch. Peter looked at the one in the package and frowned. Tony knows that he would have to open it right after they pay unless he wants Peter to try and get the other one out of the blanket. 

“I go here.” Peter went to run out of the store with the package in his arms so Tony quickly stopped him and lifted the child into his arms. 

“Stay with me, Pete. I can’t see you if you run away like that.” Tony explained to the child but he didn’t know if Peter was even listening to him since he was trying to reach for the red pens that were on the rack. 

Tony grabbed a pack and the stack of paper that was there and put it on the counter as well. 

He looked at the cashier who didn’t look like she enjoyed her job at all which was a good thing for Tony and Peter since she didn’t even look up at them. 

“Uh, he’s not gonna let go of this so you might have to scan it.” Tony gestured to the scanner that could be taken off the wall and the lady did just that but that caused the attention of Peter and his eyes landed on the lady and he stared with wide eyes. 

He pointed to arm out at her and Tony tried to put his arm back down so he was pointing like that. “Yous girl. I boy.” 

The girl popped the gum in her mouth and raised her eyebrows at Peter. “Smart kid.” She said sarcastically while Tony quickly paid. 

Peter smiled. “I’s so smart.” 

“Okay. Thank you.” Tony grabbed the bag and left the shop. He sighed in relief once he was out but they didn’t even get anything that they came down for. 

Peter was looking at his blanket and trying to get his fingers through the plastic which Tony hoped would keep him occupied for a few minutes while he tried to find a store with some clothes and basic necessities that he needed if they were going to spend a few days there. 

Tony felt his phone ringing in his pocket and even if he wanted to answer it, he couldn’t since he was carrying a bag, a blanket in its package and a seven year old in his arms. 

He would just have to answer it later. 

Tony spotted a store that had some sweaters in the front so he walked towards it but he realized how hard this was going to be since he didn’t even know his own size, never mind the kids size. 

Peter grabbed the sweater with a swan on it as soon as they walked into the store but Tony took it from his hands. “No touching.” 

Peter frowned and reached out to touch something else while staring at Tony, just to see what he would do. “I touching.” 

“I said not to.” Tony told him again so Peter let go of the top he was grabbing onto and stuck his bottom lip out. Tony wondered where he learned that from or if it was a natural child instinct. “Thank you. I have to get a few things for us in here.” 

“What things? Red things?” Peter tilted his head out of curiosity and leaned his head closer to Tony’s. 

Tony smiled at his love for the colour red. “Yeah, bud. If you see any red clothes for you then tell me.” 

Tony pulled the back of Peter’s waistband back so he could see what size pants he had on. Size 6x. There wasn’t much to choose from since this wasn’t a clothing store but a tiny shop in a hotel. 

He saw some clothes that would fit Peter and grabbed two shirts, two pants and a pair of pyjamas. 

Peter went to go throw everything onto the floor that he stacked on top of the blanket but Tony stopped him. “No Peter. That’s not very nice.” 

Peter’s eyes started to water and all Tony could think about was how dramatic he was being. “Nice. I’s nice.” 

“I’m nice, Peter.” Tony corrected him then quickly grabbed some stuff for himself since his arm was losing feeling from holding onto so much weight. 

He saw a bunch of toiletries on the back wall and couldn’t believe that he almost forgot about getting all of that. That wouldn’t have been fun. 

Tony grabbed a toothbrush for himself, toothpaste, deodorant and then hesitated. He saw an Iron Man toothbrush that was obviously for a kid and he wanted to slap himself for being so stupid. 

Peter had been living with him for almost a week now and he never brushed the kids teeth once or even thought about it. What kind of father- Tony paused in his thoughts. 

He wasn’t the kids dad no matter how right that thought felt. He just wasn’t. 

He quickly snatched an Iron Man toothbrush off the shelf and walked over to the cashier to pay. He saw a pack of gummy bears so he grabbed that as well so Peter could try it. 

Just as he put the last item on the counter to get scanned, Peter shifted in his arms and moved his hand to hold his butt. 

“Poo poo, Tony.” Peter said desperately and scrunched his face up. 

The cashier looked at Peter and then at Tony. “Oops.” She chuckled and finished scanning everything through, Tony assumed that she thought Peter pooped in his pants but that wasn’t the case, he just had to get Peter to a bathroom. 

The lady put everything in the bags a lot slower for Tony’s liking but then he paid, grabbed the bags and left the store. “Almost there. I just have to find a bathroom.” 

Tony looked around the hotel for a bathroom but he couldn’t find one and found across from them was the pool so he rushed over and pushed the door open so he could take Peter into the change rooms where there would be a bathroom. 

Tony tried not to slip on the wet and slippery floors as he made his way into the change room that was thankfully empty. 

He walked into a stall and placed the bags on the floor then stood Peter on his feet. He didn’t want the kid to sit on the nasty toilet seat so he quickly decided what to do. 

He remembers when he was young and his mom or Jarvis would take him into a public restroom to use the toilets, they would cover the seat in toilet paper so he didn’t have to sit directly on the plastic. 

He did the same with Peter. He grabbed a bunch of toilet paper and laid it out on the seat then quickly pulled Peter’s pants down and lifted him up on the seat. 

Tony looked down and realized that Peter was still in his socks. He knew there wouldn’t be any shoes to buy here and it was unlikely that Peter would wear them anyways. Plus he planned on carrying Peter around since he felt like he could keep Peter safer in his arms. 

“Done.” Peter lifted his arms up for Tony, already knowing their routine when it came to this. 

Tony lifted Peter off the seat and grabbed some toilet paper to wipe his butt then flushed the toilet. He was proud of the kid since he came such a long way in such a short time. Just simple things like him telling Tony he needed to go instead of just going in his arms. That would have been a mess Tony is not ready to clean up. 

“All done.” Peter said as he watched the toilet flush. Tony washed his hands in the shower that was attached to the bathroom since they were in a change room. 

“Yep. All done. You ready to go?” Tony asked as he picked the bags up. Peter nodded and shuffled over to him but Tony realized he forgot to pull the kids pants up. 

He wondered if Peter would have cared. It looked like he didn’t care one bit. Tony quickly pulled his pants up and picked the bags up again. 

Peter looked over at the shower and walked over to it. He looked over at Tony with wide eyes. “Shower?” 

Peter lifted his arms up so Tony could take his shirt off but it wasn’t time yet. “Not yet. We have to eat lunch first and it’s almost dinner.” 

Peter frowned and then lifted his shirt up to rub his belly. “I’m hungry.” 

Tony gasped. Peter had spoken in proper English. He was so freaking proud of the process that Peter was making but it also scared Tony because he didn’t know what would happen after Peter has the vocabulary as a seven year old and can at least dress himself. 

He wanted to say that he knew what was going to happen but he just didn’t know and that made him anxious. 

“Tony? Hungry.” Peter tapped on Tony’s arm to get his attention so Tony picked Peter up and set him on his hip and grabbed the rest of the bags. 

There were three boys in the change room when Tony left the bathroom so he tried not to pay attention to them but Peter was looking at them. They were waving their wet towels around and smacking each other with it which seemed to make Peter upset. 

“No. Don’ like.” Peter tried to say to them but Tony kept walking. Peter let out a whimper and tapped on Tony’s shoulder. “Don’ like. They’s hurtin’.” 

Tony was about to walk away and ignore it but he could tell that Peter was really upset by it and he didn’t like to see Peter like that so he turned around and awkwardly cleared his throat. “Uh, hey! Kids. Stop doing that. Someone’s gonna get hurt.” 

All three boys stopped and stared at Tony with wide eyes. “Hey! You’re Iron Man!” 

That was Tony’s cue to leave. He turned around and pushed the door open then walked back out into the hotel walkway. There was a huge crowd near the elevators that they had to go to get to their floor so Tony turned in the other direction where there looked to be some construction in the hotel so it either wasn’t allowed to walk there or no one wanted to walk there. 

There was a large grand marble staircase that was kinda dark since there were barely any lights in that area but Tony decided to go up those stairs anyways. 

“Tony, I’m walk. Down.” Peter tried to wiggle out of his arms so Tony looked around before reluctantly putting Peter on the floor. He also noticed that Peter got confused with his speech again but it was a work in process. 

“Hold the railing so you don’t fall.” Tony warned him. 

Peter turned around to look at him then he shrugged his shoulders. “I don’ know what that is.” 

Tony smiled and patted the railing. “This is a railing. Hold onto it, buddy.” 

Peter grabbed onto the railing and walked up the stairs, using two feet per step which took twice as long but Tony didn’t mind since he liked to watch Peter. 

When Peter got to the top, he turned around and smiled at Tony. “I did it. I’d get first at top.” 

Tony got to the top of the stairs and used his free hand to ruffle Peter’s hair. “Good job, Pete. I’m proud. But I’m gonna pick you up now-” 

“No. I’s walkin’, Tony.” Peter looked up at Tony with big eyes. Tony wanted to carry Peter for multiple reasons but he didn’t want Peter to feel like he had to just because he said so, he wanted Peter to have a voice. 

“Okay. You see that red sign that says ‘exit’? You can walk by yourself until we get there.” Tony told him. He wondered if a compromise was a good thing. 

Peter looked at the red sign. “Exit. Exit. Exit. And red, Tony.” 

Tony smiled and started walking. “It is.” He switched the bags to his other hand since he was actually losing feeling in his fingers because the bags were so awkward to carry. 

Peter went from walking down the hallway and then he would run a few steps and look back to see if Tony was still there before continuing again. Tony wondered what Peter would do if he just turned around and Tony was gone. 

He knew Peter would freak out and try to look for him all in the wrong places which would not end well for anyone. Especially Tony because then he would lose the kid. 

“This way, Peter.” Tony told him once they got to the red exit sign. There was no one around and as long as no one was around, Tony didn’t see the need to carry the kid. 

“This way?” Peter asked and followed Tony down the hall but Tony waited until he was ahead of him again. “Tony. No red sign. I go look.” 

“No. It’s okay. Stay near me. We’ll find one later.” Tony told the wild child. He hoped Peter didn’t see a sign and run off. 

“Okay.” Peter listened and moved to Tony’s side to walk beside him. 

Tony loved how Peter either listened with no problem or he decided he didn’t want to listen and he knew a fit about it. Well, a Peter fit but Tony didn’t want to see a real seven year old fit. 

“Come this way. We have to go up these stairs and into the elevator.” Tony told Peter and readjusted the bags in his hands. He just wanted to get to their room now. Although it was fun to watch Peter experience everything and see him look at everything curiously. 

“I see red exit sign, Tony.” Peter tugged on the back of Tony’s pants to say. 

Tony looked down at him and saw where he was pointing. He could barely make out the sign all the way down the hallway so he had absolutely no idea how Peter saw it all the way down there. 

“Good god, kid. How good is your eyesight.” Tony asked rhetorically since he knew Peter didn’t know the answer to that question. 

Peter lifted a hand up and pointed at his eyes so Tony just shook his head and chuckled. “Let’s go. The faster we can get to our room the faster we can eat.” 

“Let’s go.” Peter repeated and started to walk up the stairs while holding onto the railing like Tony told him to before. When he got to the top of the stairs, he waited for Tony. “Tony.” 

“I’m coming.” Tony told him. They walked to the elevator and Tony was glad that he wasn’t carrying Peter so Peter could easily press the buttons. “Press our floor, bud.” 

Peter pressed their floor number and it surprised Tony since Peter actually remembered what number they were on. 

“Grab the card from my hand here and put it into the door so we can get into our room.” Tony told him and Peter did as he was told but grabbed onto Tony’s hand before the two went into the room. 

Tony dropped the bags by the door and sighed in relief. His fingers and arms were killing him from having to carry all those bags up. 

Peter walked up to Tony and tugged on his shirt sleeve. “Tony? We eatin’ now? So hungry.” 

“Yep. Right now. How about…” Tony thought about it for a few seconds. If they were at home, he would be making either Mac and cheese or something healthy and light on Peter’s stomach since he still didn’t know what Peter was used to eating. “Mac and cheese? Does that sound good?” 

Peter smiled at him. “Yes. Yummy.” 

Tony picked up the menu and sat on one of the beds while he ordered the food. Peter was looking around the hotel room curiously. Tony watched him look at all the little details of everything from the blankets on the bed to the hotel coffee maker. 

That was when Peter pressed the button for the coffee maker and all of the beans fell from the container and onto the floor. Peter let out a squeal and ran over to Tony. 

Tony just watched all the coffee beans fall onto the floor and automatically brought a hand to rub at Peter’s back without even thinking about it. 

“Alright. Thank you.” Tony said into the phone after the man told him that the food would be up in fifteen minutes. He then stood up and felt Peter’s hand slip into his. “What happened over here?” 

Peter didn’t say anything but walked extremely slow behind him so Tony’s arm was bending back. 

Tony looked down at all the beans and then looked back at Peter. “It’s just coffee beans, we’ll clean it up together.” 

“I bad.” Peter told him and let go of Tony’s hand. 

Tony kneeled didn’t in front of Peter. He wondered how many times someone has told Peter that he’s bad but he’s guessing it’s a lot since it’s all Peter seems to say after he does something a bit naughty. 

“No. You’re not bad, Peter. It was an accident. You were just being curious but now you know not to do it again, yeah?” 

Peter shook his head. “No. I do it again.” 

Tony was not expecting that. “Oh, but look at the mess you made. You don’t want to make another mess, do you?” 

Peter looked at the beans on the ground, seeming to consider if he wanted to make the mess again before ultimately deciding not to. “No. Time to tidy.” 

Tony couldn’t help but laugh. “Yes, buddy. It’s time to tidy up.” 

Tony scooped a bunch into his hands and put it onto the counter but when he went to grab more, Peter was picking up a bean, smelling it and putting it into his mouth. 

It wasn’t poisonous or anything so Tony waited to see what his reaction would be. 

Peter scrunched his face up and opened his mouth so the chewed up bean fell out and landed on the floor with a trail of spit trailing from Peter’s mouth. It was weird, the action didn’t disgust Tony. He would normally be totally repulsed by that kind of behaviour but he wasn’t in the slightest and that got him thinking. 

Although not for long since Peter was looking up at him and shaking his head. 

“You’re not a fan?” Tony asked, laughing. 

“Not a fan.” Peter repeated which caused Tony to start laughing even harder because he was 100% sure that Peter didn’t know what that word even meant. 

The two of them finished cleaning up the beans just in time for the food to arrive. Tony wheeled the kart into the room while Peter looked at curiously. 

He went to reach out and touch the hot bowl but Tony stopped him. “Don’t touch. It’s really hot.” 

Peter hugged his hand to his chest as if he had actually been burnt. “Ow. Hot hot hot. Don’t touch.” 

Tony smiled at him. It was funny to watch Peter repeat him. 

Tony placed all the food on the table which was Mac and cheese for the both of them, fruits and a brownie. Tony was a bit scared to give Peter the brownie since he was sure that it would end up with Peter on the toilet with a stomach ache while Tony had to wipe and he wasn’t ready for that. 

Peter sat down next to Tony and picked up his fork. “Hot no more?” 

“It cooled down now, bubs, you can eat it.” Tony picked up his own fork and took a bite of his while Peter was babbling something under his breath. “What’re you saying?” 

“Bubs. Bubs. Tony Bubs.” Peter looked over at Tony and grinned shyly then went to take a bite of his food. 

Tony just stared at him. He didn’t know what all that was about but it was cute. It was definitely cute. 

Peter’s eyes widened at the taste. “Yummy. I like.” 

“Yeah? It’s good, isn’t it?” 

“Isn’t it.” Peter repeated. 

Tony just shook his head fondly at Peter. They continued to eat their Mac and cheese and fruit but Peter apparently didn’t like apples, just apple juice so that was a bit weird but Tony knew it was probably because it was a new flavour and texture altogether. 

Once they were done, Tony grabbed the plate with the brownie. “This is a brownie. It’s very chocolatey so you can only have one bite for now.” 

Peter moved across the table to stand next to Tony. He nodded his head eagerly and opened his mouth for a bite. Tony grabbed a fork and let Peter have a bite of it. 

Peter chewed on the piece then his eyes immediately lit up and he opened his mouth for more. 

“I’m sorry, bud.” Tony reached down to rub Peter’s stomach. “It’s too sensitive for your tummy right now.” 

Peter frowned and rubbed where Tony’s hand was rubbing. “Tummy wants more.” 

Tony laughed. This kid was something else. “Maybe later, okay?” 

Peter nodded but little did Tony know that Peter had already made his own plans to eat that brownie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha that ending isn’t really a cliffhanger haha but it’s cute and something to look forward to before we get into the bigger, more complicated stuff 
> 
> Fun fact: when I was maybe like 5 or 6 i was in the grocery store with my mom and brother and I pulled the idk handle for the coffee beans and it started falling out everywhere all over the floor. I don’t remember what my reaction was but knowing me I probably found it funny and tried to do it again but I could just imagine how my mom felt omg she was probably so embarrassed ahhh but yea I wrote peter doing that from me haha


	13. Some people care too much. I think it’s called love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title is from Winnie the Pooh which is a symbol explained in the end notes:) 
> 
> Also this chapter isn’t edited so yea enjoy:)

Peter found a liking for jumping on the bed and he jumped high. 

Part of Tony wanted to tell him to come down since he was scared for his own health because his heart couldn’t take those scares but he was also more concerned about the fact that Peter was jumping way too high and it was starting to get dangerous. 

Actually, it started to get dangerous about ten minutes ago but Tony let him continue jumping. 

He wanted Peter to build some memories and a somewhat of a normal childhood which no childhood was complete without jumping on a hotel bed at some point in one's life. 

As normal as a childhood where said kid was born and raised at Hydra and was on the run with a billionaire who had no knowledge of being around childhood and how to take care of them. 

Tony was taken away from his thoughts when Peter did a bum jump and almost fell off the bed but Tony ran over and grabbed his arm before he took a tumble onto the floor. 

He knew Peter would have been okay with barely a bruise but he just reacted and didn’t even think. 

“Okay. I think you’re all done now. It’s time to get ready for bed.” Tony told Peter and pulled him off the bed and onto the floor. 

“You jump high.” Peter told Tony once he was on the floor. He looked up at Tony and made that desperate face that Tony struggled to resist but he was a grown adult and would not be jumping on a hotel bed. 

“I’m too big. I’ll break the bed.” Tony told Peter who started giggling at what Tony said as if it was the most funniest thing in the world. “Okay, kid. Get in the bathroom.” 

Tony went to walk towards the bathroom but Peter was climbing onto the bed again and started jumping. Tony’s first thought was to just let Peter do what he wants and jump until he gets tired and decides it's time to get ready for bed but Tony quickly got rid of that thought. 

Peter was a seven year old child and there was no way Tony was going to let Peter get away with what he wanted. Tony knew he had to set some rules. Like listening to the adult who has no idea what he’s doing. Shit 

“Off, Peter. It’s getting late and you have to sleep.” Tony told Peter who turned his back to him and started jumping. Tony knew Peter wouldn’t get tired since it seemed like the kid had endless energy unless he’s actually comfortable, in bed. 

“Peter. That’s not very nice of you.” Tony said but Peter was still jumping. “Okay. I’m going to take the beds away and put them in the hallway.” 

Peter stopped jumping and turned around to look at Tony. “Then where we’s sleepin’?” 

Tony didn’t know what to say so he just shrugged and held his hand out for Peter. “Come with me. It’s time to wash your smelly hair and brush your teeth.” 

Peter grabbed a strand of hair and tugged it down so he could try and smell it. “Smelly.” 

Tony chuckled. “Yeah. So we have to wash it. Come with me.” 

Peter slid off the bed and grabbed onto Tony’s hand so they could hold it while they walked into the bathroom after Tony practically had to beg Peter just to get into the room. 

Tony then shut the bathroom door so Peter didn’t make a run for it. He turned around and saw Peter leaning over the bathtub. 

“Bucket bath, Tony.” Peter said excitedly and tugged on Tony’s hand to show him that he wanted to go in the bath. 

Tony didn’t like how Peter called it a ‘bucket bath’ since there was a reason for that and Tony felt sick just thinking that the Hydra bastards putting the kid into a bucket for a bath. 

Tony wanted to change Peter’s perspective of what a bath really was. “This is just a bathtub, Pete. You can have bubbles in here with warm water and soaps that smell really good.” 

Peter bounced on his feet and clapped his hands. Tony smiled at the childish behaviour and got his answer so Tony sat on the edge of the tub and pulled in the drain then set the water to the right temperature. 

“Do you wanna go pick what bubble bath you want?” Tony asked Peter but he was positive that Peter didn’t know what that meant. 

“Bubble bath. Bubble bath.” Peter repeated the new word and followed Tony over to the counter. 

“Look, there’s two. One smells like blueberries,” Tony held the bottle out for Peter to sniff who took it from him to continue smelling. “and the other smells like… mangos.” 

Peter smelt the mango one but then shook his head and handed Tony the blueberry one. “You pour it in.” 

Tony told him to try and teach Peter how to do things on his own. As simple as pouring a blueberry bubble bath into the tub was. Peter was excited about it and may have poured way too much but Tony didn’t care. It was nice to see Peter excited about something. 

After Peter poured the bubble bath in, Tony helped Peter get his shirt off and his pants as well as his socks that were definitely garbage now since they were absolutely disgusting. 

“Water goes fast.” Peter told him as he leaned over the tub and put his hands under the powerful water pressure. “It goes loud.” 

“Yeah, it’s filling up your bath and the pressure makes all the bubbles from the soap.” Tony explained to him. 

“Pressure. Bubbles.” Peter mumbled, repeating what Tony once said. 

Tony shut the water off after it was filled up and placed a towel on the floor since he had a feeling the bathroom was about to get flooded. “Do you need help getting in now?” 

Peter stood up fully and shook his head. “No, Tony.” 

Tony watched Peter get in and stand there awkwardly for a few moments, obviously not used to being in a bath so big. He then sat down really quickly with a giggle which sent a wave splashing over the side. 

Tony didn’t even bother to clean it up since he knew there would be a lot more where that came from. 

“Let’s see if I can find some toys or something.” Tony said and then stood up to look around for something that Peter could play with but Peter must have thought he was leaving him. 

“Tony. Don’t leave.” Peter called out, sadly, and went to stand up to get out of the bath. 

“Stay inside, bud.” Tony told him. “I’m not leaving your sight. I’m just going to look for something for you to play with.” 

Peter nodded his head and sat down but had his eyes glued on Tony like he was a hawk ready to pounce on their dinner. Tony didn’t miss the way Peter stared at him but he was used to it by now since Peter did that a lot. 

Tony figured that it was Peter’s way of trying to make sure that he doesn’t leave his sight or go anywhere without Peter knowing. 

“Do you want this?” Tony picked up a loofah and handed it to Peter who reached out for it and examined the ball. 

“Oh. I like.” Peter observed and dipped it into the water. He lifted it back up and giggled at the water dripping from it which made Tony smile. 

It amazed Tony how easily Peter was entertained. 

“People put soap on it to clean their bodies.” Tony explained to him then watched Peter put some of the bubbles onto the loofah and start rubbing it on his chest. “You’re so clever, bud.” 

“Clever. I clever.” Peter repeated. 

“Say I’m. I’m clever. I’m hungry. I’m tired.” Tony corrected him. He wanted to make sure Peter understood how to pronounce words properly and say the correct contractions. 

Peter nodded his head and looked back down at his loofah but Tony wanted him to say it so Peter understood. “Say it, Pete.” 

“I’m clever. I’m hungry. I’m tired.” Peter said like it was nothing and Tony felt like he could actually cry happy tears. He didn’t know why, it wasn’t like it was that big of an accomplishment but it was. It was to him. 

“Oh my gosh, Pete. Good job. I’m so proud of you.” Tony was beaming with happiness. He was so proud at how far Peter had come in just a short amount of time. 

Peter grinned up at him so Tony reached forward to ruffle Peter’s hair which caused Peter to copy him and then get his hair full of bubbles. From there, Tony couldn’t help himself. He grabbed some bubbles in his hand and stuck up Peter’s hair so it was sticking up like an alfalfa. 

Tony pulled his phone out and took a picture of Peter because he never wanted to forget this moment. Just as he was about to put his phone back into his pocket, it started ringing again so he checked who it was and saw that it was Natasha. 

She was going to have to wait because he was busy. 

“I do to yours.” Peter grabbed some bubbles and reached out to do it to Tony’s hair as well so Tony leaned his head forward so Peter could reach him better. 

For the next thirty minutes, Tony and Peter pretty had had a bubble fight which took most of the bubbles that hadn’t already popped, out of the bathtub and onto Tony. 

A month ago, if you were to tell Tony that he would be having a bubble fight with a kid in a bath, he would have called Happy to get rid of them because he didn’t want crazy people around him, yet here he was. And he was enjoying it. 

“No more, Pete.” Tony held up his hands so Peter would stop. “There’s more water on the floor than there is inside the bath.” 

Peter leaned over the side so he could look at the water then looked at Tony. “Uh oh.” 

“Yeah. Uh oh. It’s okay. Let’s get your hair and body all clean then you can get out.” Tony grabbed the cup from the sink that was there and gently placed his hand on Peter’s back so he held him up while he wet his hair down. “Keep your eyes shut tight.” 

After Peter’s hair was all wet, Tony grabbed the shampoo and started massaging it into the kid’s hair when Peter leaned forward and took a sip from the bath water. 

“Peter.” Tony said, surprised and disgusted. “That’s dirty. Ew.” 

Peter smiled with the water droplets dripping from his mouth. “Ew. That all dirty.” 

“Yeah. Nasty water.” Tony added with a smile because he found it endearing how Peter copied his emotions. “Lay back and keep your eyes shut tight.” Tony told him and carefully rinsed all the soap from Peter’s hair. 

He didn’t think he would ever be doing something so… fatherly? He wasn’t the kid’s father but Peter didn’t have anyone else. 

Tony didn’t want to think about that right now. He knew what he wanted but he was scared and didn’t want to admit it. 

“There. Now you’re all clean.” Tony told him and reached into the water to grab the forgotten loofah and poured a bunch of body wash on it. “Clean all around your body with this while I go grab a clean towel.” 

Peter grabbed the loofah but shook his head. “Stay. I-I wan’... stay. Please.” 

Tony stood up even after Peter’s desperate pleas. “I’ll be right back. Two seconds.” 

It didn’t surprise Tony when Peter actually counted to two and glared up at Tony. “Okay. Ten seconds.” 

Tony heard Peter counting up to ten as he left the bathroom and came back in with a towel. “Nice counting skills, Pete.” 

Peter reached for the towel and went to stand up but Tony stopped him. “Not yet. Finish cleaning yourself first so we can get some comfy pyjamas on.” 

Peter tried to hand Tony the loofah but Tony just shook his head. “No, you clean yourself. I already did your hair.” 

“Yeah. I do it.” Peter said and started to clean his arms. 

“I’ll do it.” Tony corrected him but then Peter was handing him the loofah again and Tony smiled and shook his head. “No, bud. I just… you clean yourself. I’ll be by the sink.” 

Tony stood up to try and give Peter some privacy as he washed himself even though Peter could care less if Tony gave him some privacy considering the fact that Peter asked him to help. 

Tony opened both of the tooth brushes out of the package and smiled at Peter’s. It was so tiny and Tony wasn’t even sure they made kids toothbrushes. He knows that they obviously do but it just didn’t cross his mind before since he never thought about it. 

“I all done.” Peter told Tony and put the loofah into the water. 

Tony walked back over to him and raised his eyebrows at the kid. “You’re what…?” 

“I’m all done.” Peter corrected himself which showed Tony that Peter knew how to speak but he chose to continue saying the words incorrectly because he felt more comfortable that way since it was what he was used to. 

“Good job.” Tony leaned down to pull the plug out of the bath and waited for Peter to stand up so he could wrap the towel around him and lift him out of the bath. 

“All’s wet on the floor.” Peter said after Tony placed him on his feet and when Peter started to splash in the puddles that he made, Tony picked him back up and carried him out of the bathroom and sat him on the bed. 

“Let me dry your hair a bit first so you don’t soak the pillow.” Tony lifted up the end of Peter’s towel to rub it over Peter’s hair but then Peter was trying to crawl back into the bed. “What about your pyjamas, bud? Then we have to brush your teeth.” 

Peter stopped and turned to Tony. “Brush teeth?” Peter asked and lifted his hand up to touch his teeth. 

“Yeah. To make them all shiny and clean.” Tony explained to Peter as he grabbed the bag to get Peter’s pyjamas out. Peter jumped onto the floor to watch Tony grab his pyjamas and then Peter was grabbing them out of Tony’s hand and walking away. “Pete? Where are you going?” 

“On bed.” Peter told Tony and climbed up onto the bed with his pyjamas in his hand. 

“Put your pyjamas on first and you’re not jumping anymore tonight since it’s bedtime.” Tony was proud of himself. He sounded firm but not too firm because he didn’t want to bring back any memories of Hydra or anything and make Peter scared of him. 

Tony’s phone started to ring again so Tony mentally swore. If he didn’t answer his phone again soon then Natasha would definitely try and find him and find out what happened, if she didn’t already know. He was not looking forward to that call. 

Peter was handing Tony his pyjamas so Tony helped him get his pants and shirt on and moved the blankets back so Peter could climb into the bed but Peter didn’t make a move in that direction. 

“Pooh and Piglet, Tony?” Peter asked after her jumped off the bed and looked up at Tony with his big, brown eyes. 

“It’s right here.” Tony grabbed the bag and pulled the blanket out of it then handed it to Peter who cuddled it to his chest with a content sigh and rubbed his cheek on it. 

Tony would have preferred to wash the blanket first but he couldn’t right now and Peter didn’t seem to mind at all. “Pete? I’m gonna go into the hallway for a few minutes to talk on the phone. I want you to stay here and be good.” 

Peter climbed onto the bed with his blanket still cuddled to his chest and looked at Tony with sad eyes. “Why’s… why’s you going to leave?” 

“Because I have to make a call but I’ll be right outside that door. And if you really need me, just knock on the door and I’ll come in, okay?” Tony didn’t know if he should be really worried about Peter’s apparent separation anxiety from him. 

He knows that Peter went through a lot and after everything, Tony is probably a constant in his life so it makes the kid feel safe and protected but Tony doesn’t want Peter to become too dependent on him, just in case Peter has to leave him. 

Tony doesn’t want to think about that. Ever. 

“Okay, Pete?” Tony asked again since Peter didn’t answer and was just staring at him. 

“Okay. Pooh.” Peter pointed to Pooh bear on his blanket and grinned up at Tony. 

“Yeah, me and you, buddy.” Tony copied Peter’s infectious smile and ruffled his hair before leaving the hotel room. 

Tony knew that this wasn’t the best place to be talking to Natasha but he didn’t want Peter to hear what he had to say inside the hotel room and this way, he at least had some sort of privacy. 

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and took a calming breath to get himself ready for whatever Natasha had to say to him. 

She answered on the second ring and Tony couldn’t help but think that she was waiting by the phone. “Tony? I’ve called you five times.” 

“I couldn’t come to the phone.” Tony said. He didn’t feel like being sarcastic and funny right now. 

“Something came up and I want to know if you know anything about it.” Natasha began and Tony already had a huge idea what that was about. 

“What came up?” 

“We have a new lead on Barnes.” Natasha said and Tony wanted to hang up right now. He didn’t want to be involved in this anymore. “He was seen near Wainscott. We don’t know why or what he was doing there but we have our ideas.” 

“What are your ideas?” Tony asked. He had absolutely no idea what was going on at the tower with the Avengers and with Fury who had apparently taken up residency there. 

“I think he’s looking for the boy, Tony.” Natasha flat out said and Tony needed to take a few breaths to calm down. Shit. She knew but he didn’t know who else knew. He didn’t know who she told. 

Natasha continued. “I know where you’re keeping him. You have a house leading down that road. If you just go straight then you end up in Wainscott which is exactly where Barnes was spotted.” 

“When was he spotted?” Tony asked. He needed to know the time to see if Barnes was moving on foot or if he had another form of transportation. 

What if Barnes was working with Hydra again and his mission was to take Peter back? The idea terrified Tony. 

“Do you know something? You seem very interested.” Natasha spoke like she already knew the answer. 

“Tell me, Nat.” Tony didn’t have any patience left in him. 

“About two hours ago.” 

Tony ran a hand through his hair. Fuck. So Barnes has some sort of transportation but he didn’t know why he would have gone there. Of all places. 

“How do you know I have a house on that road? Who told you because I sure didn’t.” Tony asked her and checked the time because he didn’t want to be in the hallway longer than ten minutes or Peter might think that he left him. 

“Who else knows, Tony? Pepper told me.” 

Tony felt like he had been slapped across the face. “What? Why were you talking to Pepper?” 

“Because apparently you’re not just ignoring my calls.” Natasha told him. 

Tony had no idea what was going on. “Pepper hasn’t been calling me. Stop lying to me, Nat.” 

Natasha was silent on the other end for a few seconds before speaking. “We need to talk. In person. Not over the phone. I want answers that I know you have.” 

Tony didn’t say anything so she continued. 

“Give me your address and I’ll come alone. You know I will, Tony.” Natasha sounded desperate and almost sad. 

“I can’t.” Tony let out a breath of air and leaned against the wall. “We’re not living there right now. I’d tell you why now but I guess I’m gonna see you soon.” 

“Where are you? I’ll come to you.” 

“No.” Tony was quick to say. “I’ll come to the tower tomorrow morning but I want your word… just you. Don’t tell anyone I’m coming there or I’ll lock down my floor and no one can come up. Including you.” 

“You have my word, Tony.” Natasha reassured him. “You always do.” 

“Alright. So I’ll come tomorrow.” 

“Tony?” 

“What?” 

“I want to see the boy.” 

Tony was shaking his head but he couldn’t say no to her since he had to bring Peter with him this time. There was no getting around it since he knows what happens when he leaves the kid home alone. 

It took him quite a long time to figure that out but at least he knew now. 

“Alright. Fine.” Tony reluctantly agreed. “But I want you to know one thing, if you start interrogating him about Hydra or Barnes or anything else, I’ll get my suit and drop you off the side of the tower. The kid is not a resource. He’s a child.” 

“You have my word. I won’t ask him anything related to Hydra.” Natasha promised and that was enough for Tony. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” Tony then hung up the phone and let out a huge breath of air that he was holding in. His body was so tense after that phone call and all he wanted to do was shower and get into bed. 

He put his phone back into his pocket and opened the hotel door. He rubbed his eyes and expected to find Peter either bouncing on the bed or under the blankets and ready to go to bed but Peter wasn’t doing either. 

“Pete?” Tony called out and walked by both of the beds to see if he was on the floor or something. When Tony couldn’t find Peter there, he got on the floor to check under the bed. “Peter? Buddy, where are you?” 

Tony stood back up and ran into the bathroom to see if Peter was there and when he didn’t see the curly headed child, he started to freak out. 

“Peter?! Where are you?” Tony rushed back into the room and then his eye caught the curtains that were blowing in the wind from a door or window being opened. 

Tony walked over and opened the curtains to see Peter standing on the balcony and stepping on the chair to look over the edge. Tony didn’t even say anything, he quickly grabbed Peter by the back of his pants so he wouldn’t fall and then he wrapped his arm around Peter’s chest and pulled him against his own chest. 

Peter let out a squeal of surprise at the sudden manhandling and turned to look at Tony but once he saw who it was, he smiled and pointed to the railing. “It’s high. So high and I lookin’.” 

Tomy didn’t say anything. He walked into the hotel room and shut the balcony door then locked it and shut the curtains again. He then placed Peter on his feet and kneeled down in front of him. 

“No. You do not go out on the balcony, do you understand me? It is dangerous and you could have fallen then I would have never seen you again.” Tony was nearing a yell and he tried to stop it but he couldn’t help himself. His heart was about to explode it was pumping so fast. 

Peter’s face scrunched up at the sudden outburst from Tony and tears filled his big, brown eyes. “No. No yelling, Tony.” 

“No, Peter. You were bad. You were very bad and I don’t like that. How did you ever know there was a balcony there?” Tony asked out of fear and curiosity. 

“I-I just lookin’, Tony. I lookin’ outside.” Peter’s bottom lip started to wobble and then he was bursting into tears and backing away from Tony. “I’s not bad, Tony. Not anymore.” 

Tony let go of Peter and watched him slowly back away from him until Peter’s back hit the wall and then he was turning around and crawling up so he could hide on the ceiling in the corner. 

Tony watched Peter climb up the wall and as much as it scared him, it didn’t surprise him or scare him as much as Peter leaning over the side of the balcony. 

“Peter. I’m sorry.” Tony stood up and walked so he was standing under Peter. “I shouldn’t have called you bad. You’re not bad. I should have told you not to go out there but you didn’t know and I’m sorry. It’s my fault.” 

Tony was surprising himself. He had never said sorry so much to someone. He barely said it to Pepper and here he was, saying sorry to Peter multiple times in a sentence. 

Peter let out a whimper and looked at Tony. “Mean.” 

“What? I’m mean?” Tony asked since he wasn’t sure what Peter said exactly. “I know. I’m sorry, Pete. Can you come down now. I didn’t mean to yell at you.” 

Tony didn’t want Peter to be scared of him. He didn’t want Peter to flinch every time Tony touched him or went near him. He didn’t want Peter to connect him to the men at Hydra. 

“Peter. I’m sorry, buddy. Come down.” Tony was begging at this point but he felt so bad and was regretting what he did. 

Peter let out a whimper and then crawled down the wall. He walked over to Tony and looked up at him with red rimmed eyes. “Yous sorry?” 

“Yeah. I am. I shouldn’t have yelled at you.” Tony sat down on the bed and hesitated before we went to lift Peter onto his lap but then Peter was lifting his arms up so Tony picked him up and sat Peter on his lap. “I won’t yell at you like that again.” 

Peter let out a yawn while he leaned his head against Tony’s chest. “Yeah. I don’t like yelling at me.” 

“How about we go brush your teeth and then get comfy in bed?” Tony offered because it was already really late and now he could tell that Peter was tired. 

Peter nodded his head and slid off of Tony. “Brush teeth so they’s sparkles and clean.” 

“Exactly.” Tony followed Peter into the bathroom and showed him his toothbrush. Peter grabbed it with a smile.

“It’s you.” 

“Yeah, Pete. Iron Man will help you clean your teeth.” Tony took the toothbrush from Peter and wet it before putting a pea size amount of Peter’s fruity toothpaste on the brush then he wet it again and leaned over Peter to help him. “Have you ever brushed your teeth before?” 

Peter nodded his head but Tony didn’t think that was true. “With the blue rinse.” 

“Blue rinse?” Tony didn’t know what that meant but he didn’t try to ask more. “Open your mouth and show me your teeth.” 

Peter opened his mouth so Tony leaned over him and started to clean his teeth by brushing the toothbrush gently over his teeth. He didn’t want to hurt Peter so he was doing it as light as possible and when he took the toothbrush out of Peter’s mouth so he could spit, to Tony’s disgust, Peter swallowed the form and Tony gagged. 

“Oh, no. Peter. Spit it out. Never swallow that.” Tony tried not to gag anymore but that was absolutely disgusting. It was more disgusting than wiping someone else’s butt in Tony’s opinion. 

Peter looked up at Tony and shrugged. “It’s yummy.” 

“No. Okay… let’s just finish this.” Tony put the toothbrush back into Peter’s mouth and made sure that he got all the teeth then rinsed the toothbrush while Peter was rinsing his mouth with the cup. 

“Look!” Peter showed his teeth to Tony, proudly. 

“Woah. Look at those. So clean.” Tony grabbed the toothbrush and put it on the side for now. “Go pee and then it’s bedtime.” 

Tony was surprised that Peter didn’t ask for help this time but he knew it was because pyjamas were a lot easier to pull up and down. 

Once Peter was done, Tony and him walked back into the room and Tony sat on the edge of the bed. He lifted Peter up and laid him down so he was comfortable under the blankets. “Your blanket.” Tony handed him his Winnie the Pooh blanket. 

Peter cuddled it against his chest and rubbed his face on it. “My blankie.” 

“Close your eyes and sleep now. I’m going to go shower and brush my teeth and then I’ll come out.” Tony leaned down and pressed a kiss to Peter’s forehead without even thinking about it. The action just came so naturally to him and he liked that. “Okay. Sleep.” 

He stood up and went into the bathroom with a smile on his face. 

He could do this. 

Tony finished up in the shower and brushed his teeth then he cleaned up the bathroom as best as he could but he was always terrible at cleaning up. That’s why he always paid someone to do it. 

After he was done, he put his pyjamas on, really wishing that he could have washed them, then he left the bathroom and found Peter sitting up in bed with his new blanket under his nose so he could sniff it. 

Tony turned the lamp off and got into the bed next to Peter’s. As he was getting comfortable in bed, he turned around and saw Peter standing by his bed with his blanket under his nose still. 

“Oh shi- kid. You scared me. Why are you just standing there like that?” Tony asked and sat up to turn the light on again. He was going to get comfortable and say goodnight to the kid, it wasn’t like he was just going to ignore him. 

“Sleep in my bed, Tony.” Peter pulled the blankets off of Tony and tried to grab his hand and pull him into his bed. 

“Pete, we have our own beds now. You have yours and I have mine.” Tony said to Peter because he had been accidentally or not so accidentally falling asleep with Peter just to make sure he stayed safe. 

Peter hesitated, trying to understand why Tony didn’t want to sleep with him. “Oh. Come bed, Tony.” 

Tony smiled and shook his head. “Bud, I’m right here.” 

“Yeah. I’m climb up.” Peter walked around to the other side of the bed and climbed into bed with Tony. Tony watched as he got comfortable under the blankets and then lay his head on the pillow. 

Peter reached over and patted Tony’s pillow, silently telling him to lie down as well. 

“Petey, you have to sleep in your own bed. I’ll take you there.” Tony got out of bed and walked over to the other side to pick Peter up and carry him back onto his own bed but as soon as he picked Peter up, Peter started crying. 

Tony looked down at him and saw that there were no tears falling from his eyes so he knew he had a little actor on his hands. “It’s okay. I’m right here, Pete.” Tony got him comfortable in his bed again and brushed the hair off his face. 

Peter let out a whimper and put his thumb in his mouth but Tony gently took it out. “Don’t do that, Pete.” 

Peter looked up at Tony and went to go put his thumb in his mouth again but Tony stopped him. “No, Peter. Don’t put your thumb in your mouth.” 

Peter let out a puff of air and turned on his side so he could face Tony’s bed. 

Once Tony knew that Peter wasn’t going to get up again, he climbed back into his bed and shut the lamp off. He said his Goodnights to Peter and was out in just a few minutes from pure exhaustion. 

Peter on the other hand was still awake. 

He kicked the blankets off of him and lifted his legs into the air to see how high he could reach them. He then sat up in bed and grabbed the phone off the nightstand table and started to play with it and pretend to talk into it by babbling just like Tony did before the food came up. 

Peter then slid off the bed and ran to the front door to try and open it but it didn’t budge so he walked over to Tony and poked him in the cheek. “Tony? You sleepin.” 

Peter sighed dramatically and walked over to the small fridge where Tony put the rest of his brownie. He opened it up and sat on the floor, pulling the plate with the brownie on it, onto his lap. 

“Mm. Yummy.” Peter leaned forward to smell the brownie and excitedly kicked his legs and started mumbling non-coherent words. 

He didn’t wait any longer and grabbed a piece of brownie with his hand then put it into his mouth. His eyes lit up at the taste again and he went for more. 

“It’s good. I want more. More more.” Peter said to himself and used his other hand to get more of the brownie into his mouth. 

“Yum yum yum.” Peter started laughing at the sound he was making and finished off the last piece of brownie then he licked the plate clean. 

Peter stood up and ran back over to Tony to see if his best friend was awake but he was still sleeping so Peter ran over to the balcony so he could look outside at all the lights since he knew if he opened the door then Tony would call him a bad boy and he wasn’t bad. 

“Not no more. No more.” Peter placed his hand on the window and laughed at the brownie mark he made so then he put his other hand on the window and started to smack the glass to make hand prints. 

The sound banging and giggling woke Tony up. He sat up in bed and checked the time. He had only been sleeping for forty minutes. He looked over at the balcony door and saw Peter smacking his hands against the glass. 

“Peter? What’s going on?” Tony asked and got out of bed. 

Peter turned around to look at him with his whole face covered in chocolate. He walked over to him and then saw the empty brownie plate on the floor. 

“I playin’ brownie, Tony.” Peter said and started smacking the glass again. 

Tony picked the plate up and set it on the table then kneeled in front of Peter and turned the boy towards him. “Peter, what happened? Did you eat the brownie?” 

Peter smiled at him and nodded his head. “Yeah! It’s yummy!” 

Tony wiped the brownie on Peter’s forehead, having no idea how it got up there. “Oh, buddy. You look like a brownie yourself.” 

Peter started giggling and showed his hands to Tony. It was then Tony looked at the glass and cringed. There were handprints of chocolate all over the glass and normally Tony would have just left it for the maids to clean up but he didn’t think that was right. 

It was his kids' mess to begin with. 

“Oh wow. Next time you do some art work, we should do it on paper, yeah?” Tony stood up and lifted Peter up with him. 

Peter gave a sharp nod and started to lick his fingers. 

Tony didn’t even try to stop him. Peter was going to do what he wanted to do and he learned by now that as long as Peter was safe, he couldn’t stop him. 

He carried Peter into the bathroom and helped him wash his hands then sat him on the counter to clean his face off with a warm washcloth. Peter tried to touch Tony’s face while he was getting the kid clean. 

“Not me, Pete. You’re the one who woke up in the middle of the night to eat a brownie.” Tony poked him on the nose and smiled when Peter started giggling. 

“All done.” Peter said and lifted his arms up for Tony to lift him off the counter which was what Tony did. 

He set Peter on the floor and walked him back into the room but suddenly Peter stopped walking and scrunched his face up. “Tummy hurts.” 

Tony quickly picked Peter up and carried him to the washroom because that was exactly why he didn’t want Peter to eat that brownie. He pulled his pants down and sat him on the toilet just in time. 

Tony sighed in relief because he didn’t know what he would have done if he had to clean that mess up but for some surprising reason, he wasn’t even disgusted right now, just relieved that Peter made it. 

Peter whimpered and leaned forward. “Tummy, Tony.” 

Tony sat on the edge of the bathtub next to the toilet and rubbed Peter’s temple. “I know. I’m sorry, buddy.” 

Peter looked up at him desperately, silently begging Tony to help him. 

It paid Tony to see Peter in pain and know that he just had to wait it out with him. “I know. You just have to let it all pass through. You’re tummy isn’t used to eating brownies, bubs.” 

Peter whimpered and leaned his head up against Tony’s hand. “Tummy.” 

“It’s gonna be okay, buddy. I promise.” Tony tried to reassure Peter. 

An hour later, Peter was finally feeling better. 

It took a long time for everything to pass through Peter’s system which Tony was surprised about because Peter was supposed to have a fast metabolism. He didn’t think too much about it since he was too focused on taking care of Peter but in hindsight, he should have thought more of it. 

“Tired.” Peter said as Tony carried him back to the bed on his hip. Peter had been sweating and so Tony took off his shirt to try and help with that but now Peter refused to put it back on. 

“We’re going to bed now, bud.” Tony told him and Peter let out another whimper which scared Tony. 

He had been taking Peter back onto his bed before the next cramps started up again and then brought him back to the bathroom so he was scared that it was starting again. 

“I sleep with you. Your bed.” Peter weakly pointed to Tony’s bed but Tony already planned on having Peter sleep close to him. 

Tony laid him down and grabbed Peter’s blankie so he could cuddle it. Tony then laid down himself and shut the lamp off. 

After his eyes adjusted to the light, he placed his hand on Peter’s stomach to rub his belly. “I guess no more brownies for you anytime soon.” 

Peter let out another whimper. “No brownie, Tony.” 

Tony agreed with that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: my baby teeth never actually fell out (the two front ones) so when I was like 8 or 9 I went into my bathroom and ripped them out and then I had no front teeth for like 2 years 
> 
> Also when To y stuck petets hair up, you know when parents do that to their kids in there bath?¿ haha it’s cute 
> 
> And I forgot to add Peter’s blanket link but I was trying to find the perfect blanket and if you want some symbolism then I thought that this blanket was perfect because it’s peter and tony (Pooh bear and piglet) walking together and the balloon would symbolize hydra and how peter is now free from Hydra because he has tony now AND!! It’s red! Which we all know peter loves so yea!! 
> 
> Blanket link: 
> 
> https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81GgYeQxLoL._AC_SL1500_.jpg


	14. Like there ain’t enough dying stars in your sky

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiii guys!!! Ahhhhh it’s been so long since I last uodated!! 
> 
> Please read the end notes so an important update!!!!!!!! 
> 
> Does anyone know where the chapter title is from?¿

Tony woke up and reached over Peter to grab his phone off the nightstand table to check the time and to see what kind of emails and texts he missed. 

He knew he was behind on everything since he’s been hiding away from his work with his company but it wasn’t like he cared that much. He wasn’t that present anyways. 

Pepper would be calling one of these days and Tony wasn’t ready for that phone call. He knew she was going to be pissed at him for a million reasons but he would most likely ignore her as well. 

Tony groaned and got out of bed once he saw the time. It was 9:43am and he wanted to be on the road by 8 so they could drive the two hours back to New York. So much for getting there in the morning. Natasha would just have to wait. 

After Tony finished off in the bathroom, he walked back into the room and was surprised since he thought that Peter would have been awake by now but he was still sleeping which was weird. 

“Pete, buddy. It’s time to wake up.” Tony gently shook him awake and pulled the blankets off of him. “Peter. Wake up, kid.” 

Peter moaned and rolled onto his back then sat up and rubbed his eyes. “It’s morning time.” Peter said and climbed out of the bed. 

“Yeah. Go pee and then we have to get you dressed because then we have to go.” Tony helped Peter in the bathroom and getting him dressed all while he was thinking about how he was going to drive back to New York since Peter was seven and extremely small for his age so he needed a car seat. 

It wasn’t something that he thought about on the way to Philadelphia but it was definitely something he needed to think about now. 

Tony also decided that he would grab breakfast on the way so they could multitask but also so Peter could eat and hopefully be entertained for at least twenty minutes of the car ride. 

“I’m carrying you so come here.” Tony put the sunglasses on him and the hat then grabbed his keys and held his arms out for Peter who was climbing onto the bed. 

“Where goin’, Tony?” Peter asked and stood up on the bed that no one used. 

“I told you already. We’re going to where I used to live.” Tony explained to him for the fifth time. He crossed the distance between the two and picked Peter off the bed and set him on his hip. 

“Ahh! Blankie!” Peter screamed right in Tony’s ear and made desperate grabby hands for his blanket on Tony’s bed. Tony held him towards the bed so he could pick it up and once Peter had it in his arms, he cuddled it against his face and wrapped an arm around Tony’s back. 

When Tony got out into the hallway, Peter started kicking his legs to be placed on the floor but Tony wasn’t going to let him this time. It was the morning so the hotel would be extremely busy right now. 

“No, Peter. I’m going to carry you until we get to the car.” Tony told him but Peter was shaking his head and trying to be put down. “Peter.” 

“Down. Down, Tony. I run.” Peter said and started squirming again. 

Tony shifted Peter into his other hip. “I said no, Peter. How about you count all the doors we pass by?” 

Peter stopped squirming and looked at the hotel doors. “Oh. Yeah. I’ll count.” 

While Peter was doing that, Tony was trying to decide how to go buy a car seat for Peter without Peter going crazy in the store and wanting to touch everything like he did last time. Tony just needed to put something in Peter’s hands to distract him but he didn’t know what. 

In the lobby, as if god himself had sent Tony a gift, there was a pile of stuffed animals by the front desk that were apparently for free and waiting to be taken. 

“Woah, look, Pete. Look at all the stuffed animals.” Tony said to him and walked closer to the table. “Do you want one?” 

Peter gasped and nodded his head as he looked at all the different stuffed animals with curious eyes. Peter’s eyes landed on one animal in particular and he started to squeal excitedly and bounce up and down in Tony’s arms. 

“Baby deer! Baby deer!” Peter was leaning forward and reaching down for the animal so Tony let him pick it up. 

It was a soft, tiny deer that even had the little white dots on its back. Tony touched the fur and it was really soft so when Peter started to rub his face against it, Tony didn’t blame him. 

“Do you like it?” 

Peter nodded. “Yeah! It’s baby deer! Where mama deer?” Peter looked around as if mama deer was somewhere besides the table but when Peter didn’t see it, he turned to Tony. “Uh oh. Mama deer lost.” 

Tony was walking out of the hotel and towards the car as he spoke. “Maybe we’ll find her somewhere else but for now we have to go so hold onto baby deer tightly.” 

“Yeah. Baby deer has the-the baby.” Peter explained to Tony as he pet the fur. Tony didn’t understand what that meant and he didn’t think Peter knew either but he agreed with Peter either way. 

Tony unlocked his car and placed Peter in the front seat with his blanket and new friend. “We have to make a quick stop somewhere first so let’s get you buckled up.” 

The ride to the store with car seats wasn’t far but Tony, for the very first time in his life was feeling self conscious as people looked into his car because he knew he looked like a bad parent for having a child in the front seat with him. 

He was also very cautious as he lifted Peter back into his arms to go into the store.

“Baby deer hungry, Tony.” Peter said and Tony hated how Peter felt the need to speak through his stuffed animal because he was too scared or not used to asking for food but Tony didn’t understand since Peter had asked him before for food and Tony never or would ever yell at him for asking. 

“We’re gonna get food soon, Pete. We just have to pick out a car seat first.” He simply explained to the hungry seven year old and walked to the back of the store where the car seats were. 

He looked at all the car seats and felt overwhelmed. Never in his life did he ever have to buy a car seat for someone and now here he was, inexperienced and clueless. 

“Uh…” Tony walked down the aisle and tried to figure out if Peter needed the car seat with the buckles or the car seat that had no buckles. He had no idea what to do but he had no one to call. “What one do you want, Pete?” 

Peter lifted his head off of Tony’s shoulder and looked over all the car seats, examining all of them carefully. He pointed to a car seat with buckles so Tony walked over to it and looked it over. He didn’t think this was the best choice since he knew Peter didn’t like tight things. 

Although if Peter needed this car seat then screw his dislike for tight things. 

“That one.” Peter pointed to another car seat without buckles as if Peter had read Tony’s mind and Tony wouldn’t put that past him, as much as it terrified him. 

“Okay. Is it because it’s red?” Tony asked him. 

Peter nodded his head and rubbed his stomach again, lifting up his shirt in the process. Tony pulled his shirt back down because he didn’t want anyone seeing his kids tummy. “I know. We’ll get food right after this.” 

Peter whimpered. “So hungry.” 

Tony suddenly thought about the fact that Peter’s metabolism was super fast and the last time he ate was that brownie and then he basically got everything out of his system in a very painful and uncomfortable way that Tony had to help him with. 

Meaning that the poor kid was most likely starving and Tony kept telling him to wait. He suddenly felt awful because he didn’t want to be like the people at Hydra. He didn’t want Peter to classify him in the same category but here he was, telling the kid no to food that he so desperately wanted and needed. 

“I’m sorry. We’ll be so quick. We just need to pay and then we’ll go get some food.” Tony reassured Peter but he was still concerned since he couldn’t exactly bring Peter to just any fast food place, he had to be careful with what he put in Peter’s stomach. “I have to put you down so I can carry the box.” 

Tony went to place Peter on his feet but Peter started screaming and reaching up for Tony again so Tony quickly picked Peter back up, out of fear that it would draw attention to them. 

“Peter, please. I need to carry your new car seat and I can’t do that and carry you too.” Tony told the child who had rested his head back on Tony’s shoulder and hugged his deer to his chest but as soon as Tony said that, Peter turned his head away as if Peter couldn’t see him so he didn’t have to answer him. 

Tony didn’t know what to do but he didn’t want a scene so he grabbed the box with the car seat in one hand and walked to the front to pay. At this point, he was used to carrying Peter plus other things at once. Not that Peter was heavy, he was actually very light but it was still a whole human being he had to carry. 

Once he paid and left the store, he walked back to his car and wanted to get back on the road as soon as possible so he opened the back door and set Peter on his feet so Peter had no choice but to get out of his arms. 

“Tony. No, lift up.” Peter reached up for him but Tony shook his head which got a distressed sound from Peter. “Please.” 

“No, Peter. I’m busy right now and I only have two arms.” Tony said to Peter since he was getting frustrated while he tried to get the car seat out of the box. Peter looked hurt and confused as he looked between both of Tony’s arms then lifted his arms back up for Tony. 

Tony sighed and lifted Peter up but it was awkward because he was holding Peter with one arm now while also trying to get the car seat out of the box and get all the plastic off. 

Peter made himself comfy either way. 

“Okay,” Tony groaned and stood up straighter since his body was bending uncomfortably while he got the car seat securely into the car. “all done. This is where you’re going to sit while we’re in the car now.” 

Peter lifted his head up and looked at the car seat then started squirming. Tony placed him on the ground and was glad since he thought Peter was going to climb into his new car seat but he walked around to the passenger seat and banged on the door. 

“Open, Tony.” Peter demanded and looked up at Tony. 

“You can’t sit in the front seat anymore. I shouldn’t have let you sit there at all.” Tony said to Peter while he grabbed his hand and walked him around to the other side again to put Peter into his new car seat. He lifted Peter up and sat him down which immediately got Peter showing his vocal side and the fact that he could in fact say no, or in this case, scream it. 

“Not here! In front! In front, Tony!” Peter cried out but there were no tears in his eyes at all. 

“You’re too small, Peter. I’m sorry.” Tony felt bad but he couldn’t do anything about it. He got Peter buckled in and slammed the car door, making sure the child lock was on. He then grabbed the box and the plastic and tossed it into a garbage bin then got into the car himself. 

Peter was still crying in the backseat but since Tony was ignoring him, he stopped after a few minutes which was just in time because Tony was pulling up to a Cora’s which had healthy food so hopefully that would be easy on Peter’s stomach. 

“I’m getting you pancakes and some fruits, do you want anything else?” Tony asked Peter who was chewing on his index finger. Tony couldn’t reach him to take the definitely dirty finger out of his mouth so he had to tell him to. “Take your finger out of your mouth.” 

Peter narrowed his eyes at him and screamed, “No!” 

“Okay.” Tony sat back in his seat. He didn’t know what else to do since he was still new to everything. He ordered Peter’s food and got him a strawberry and banana smoothie that even came in a children’s sippy cup which was perfect for Peter. 

Tony got the same thing as Peter but with some bacon on the side because he was scared to give Peter bacon just yet. He got himself a bottle of water as well. 

It was a relief being back on the road with a content Peter but now that Peter was being fed and Tony didn’t have to worry about that, his mind started to worry about Natasha meeting Peter and what was going to happen once they got back to New York. 

Tony wasn’t sure if he was going to spend the night in the tower with Peter or not. He knew they would be safe since the tower is one of the most safest places in the entire world but that still didn’t stop the Avengers and possibly Fury from making their way up onto his floor to chat with him. 

If that happened, that would give them easy access to Peter and Tony didn’t want that. He couldn’t have that. So he knew it was best for them to go back to the hotel and spend a few more nights until things settle down a bit and at least Barnes can leave New York and go back to wherever he came from. 

All too soon, they were arriving at the tower and to say Tony was stressed was an understatement. 

The sudden urge to protect the child in the backseat was overwhelming to the point that Tony was regretting this whole thing and wanted to turn around and never come back. 

He shut his car off in the garage and turned around in his seat to look at Peter who had been babbling words to his stuffed deer. He had syrup all over his face along with strawberry smeared on his forehead somehow. 

The sight made Tony smile. “Hey, bud. Remember I told you where we’re going?” 

Peter looked up at Tony and nodded. Tony had briefly explained to him that they were going to be heading to his old house to meet someone but Peter was too distracted with whatever he was holding in his hands at that moment so Tony gave up. 

“Well, that someone we are going to go see is an old friend of mine. Her name is Natasha and she’s really nice but if you don’t want to talk to her anymore or if you want her to leave, you just tell me and she’ll leave right away, okay?” Tony wanted Peter to feel comfortable and he wanted to give Peter a choice whether or not he wanted Natasha to stay. 

“Okay, Tony. And baby deer.” Peter held up his stuffed animal and Tony nodded his head then got out of the car. 

He opened up Peter’s back door then grabbed a wet wipe to wipe down his face and his hands. “Do you want me to carry you or do you want to walk?” 

Peter thought about it as Tony unbuckled him from his car seat and lifted him onto the ground. Peter looked around curiously then back up at Tony. “Walk.” 

“Okay. Let’s head up.” Tony walked into the elevator with Peter following right behind him. 

“Welcome back, Boss.” FRIDAY said and Peter immediately grabbed onto Tony’s leg. “Hello. Who is this?” 

Tony cupped the back of Peter’s head. “It’s alright, bud. Her name is FRIDAY and she’s my AI. FRIDAY, this is Peter. Say hi.” 

“Hello young Peter. My name is FRIDAY and I run the tower.” FRIDAY introduced herself and Peter was looking around with wide eyes for the human talking and Tony chuckled. 

“FRIDAY is my AI. That means she’s artificial intelligence so you can’t see her, only hear her.” Tony explained to Peter just as the elevator doors opened. 

“FRIDAY see me?” Peter asked, grabbing onto Tony’s hand as they stepped out of the elevator. 

“Yeah, she can-” 

Peter cut Tony off by letting go of his hand and running into the kitchen and opening up the fridge. “Fridge here too, Tony.” 

Tony followed Peter into the kitchen. He knew he had to give Peter a few minutes to look around before he brought Natasha up. “FRI, tell Natasha we’re here but to stay down until I tell her to come up. No one is allowed on my floor under any circumstances.” 

“Yes, Boss.” 

“Tony, wan’-wan’ apple juice.” Peter stepped onto the freezer handle to hoist himself up into the fridge to look for his juice but sadly Tony had none of that here. He didn’t have anything for Peter here. 

“I don’t have any apple juice, Pete.” Tony said to Peter who climbed back down. 

“Oh. G’ape juice?” Peter asked and looked up at Tony. 

“Grape juice, Peter. I know you know how to say it, buddy.” Tony corrected him. He still didn’t understand why Peter chose to say his words that he knew how to say correctly, incorrectly. He thought it had something to do with that fact that no one corrected him at Hydra so Peter got away with speaking improper sentences. 

“Yeah. Grape juice, Tony?” Peter asked again and Tony looked in the fridge and was extremely grateful to see that he did in fact have grape juice. 

“Yep. I don’t have any spill proof cups so you’ll need to use a cup.” Tony grabbed a glass cup from the cabinet and went to pour the juice but Peter stopped him. 

“I do.” Peter took the juice from Tony and grabbed the cup to place it on the floor. He managed to fill the glass to the top without spilling anything then he looked up at Tony, waiting happily for a praise. 

“Good job, bud. Look how well you poured that juice.” 

Peter nodded his head. “Tony want?” 

“No thanks. You drink.” Peter lifted the glass up to his mouth but Tony held it so that Peter didn’t spill any because he knew that’s what would have happened if he didn’t help the kid. Peter had many powers but drinking from a cup that wasn’t spill proof wasn’t one of those powers just yet. He still needed some practice and now, with no change of clothes, was not the time to practice that. 

There were a bunch of boxes in the living room and Tony suddenly remembered what was in those boxes. He got excited over something he never in his life thought he would ever be excited about. 

“Peter, come here.” Tony walked over to the boxes and sat down with Peter following him. “Do you know what is in here?” 

Peter sat up on his knees and examined the boxes. After a few seconds, he nodded his head. 

“You do?” Tony asked, surprised. Peter nodded his head again. “What’s in them?” 

Peter shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know.” 

Tony chuckled. “Bud, you just said… never mind. There’s toys in here for you. All kinds of toys as well as books and everything else I ordered for you a few days ago.” 

Peter bounced excitedly on his knees. “I see.” 

Tony peeled the tape back on one of the boxes and ripped it open. Peter immediately peeked inside the box and reached in to pull out another smaller box. He opened it the same way Tony opened it and revealed a box of books. 

Peter made a noise of excitement and pulled one of the books out. He ran a careful hand over the cover and a small smile appeared on his lips. Tony watched him, deciding not to say anything to make sure that he didn’t interrupt Peter’s thoughts. 

Then, Peter opened the book to the front page and started running his fingers along the words, mumbling something that Tony was sure wasn’t what the actual words were saying. 

He looked back up at Tony and shifted closer to him. “Read, Tony.” 

Tony took the book from Peter and shut it so he could look at the front cover. It read The Velveteen Rabbit and it brought back so many memories for Tony all at once. 

He remembers when he used to sit on Jarvis’ lap when he was around four or five and listen to the man read this book to him. He always felt so safe and comfortable on the man’s, who he looked up to as a father, lap. 

He placed the book to the side for now and didn’t miss the way Peter’s small smile dropped. “I’ll read it to you later but right now you have a visitor.” 

Peter frowned. “They bad?” 

Tony shook his head. “No, bud. Natasha is my friend. She’s nice.” 

Peter nodded his head and went back to the smaller box with all the books. Tony watched him for a few seconds. He wanted to get this over with so the sooner she comes up, the sooner they can leave. 

“FRIDAY, tell Nat we’re ready for her.” Tony told FRIDAY and checked his watch for the time. He felt his chest tighten and his heart speed up a bit. He just wanted to get this over with. 

Less than a few minutes later, the elevator doors were opening but Tony didn’t bother getting up. She could come over to them. 

Peter looked up at the noise and saw a new face walk into the house so he looked at Tony and put the book down so he could hide his face against Tony’s arm. Tony rubbed his back, reassuringly. 

Natasha walked closer to them and looked at Tony then down at Peter who was hiding his head between Tony’s arm and the couch. She crouched down and pushed some boxes out of the way to look at the child. 

“It’s alright, bud. This is Natasha. Remember I told you that she’s nice?” Tony rubbed Peter’s back some more. Usually when Peter saw new people, he stared at them with wide eyes until they left his line of view but for some reason, now Peter wasn’t even looking up at Natasha. 

Natasha sat down and crossed her legs. “Hi. What’s your name?” 

Peter peeked an eye out at Natasha. “I’m Peter.” 

Natasha smiled. “That’s such a nice name. How old are you, Peter?” 

Peter moved a bit more so he could look at Natasha more carefully and Tony felt Peter tense even as he answered. “Seven fingers.” 

Natasha looked up at Tony for clarification. “He’s seven years old. Seven fingers up.” 

Natasha nodded with a slight smile appearing on her face. She looked back down at Peter. “What do you have here? Are you reading books?” 

Peter peeked another eye out at her and then flinched violently and shoved his face into Tony’s side more. Tony thought that that reaction was odd. “Sit up, Pete.” 

Peter whimpered and shook his head. 

“Peter?” Tony asked because Peter was trembling now. Tony felt his own heart start to speed up again. “What is it, bud?” 

After about a minute of Peter shaking and whimpering against his side, Tony looked up at Natasha. “You should leave now. This was a mistake. He’s scared.” 

“Tony, I-” 

Peter cut her off by lifting his head up and revealing his full face to Natasha for the first time. He frowned at her and pointed a finger at her. “Bad. Hydra spy. Bad.” 

Both Natasha and Tony looked at each other confused. Tony rubbed Peter’s back and tried to get Peter to look at him. “Peter. What are you talking about?” 

Peter stood up fully so he was standing between Natasha and Tony, protecting Tony from Natasha apparently. “Bad. Yous spy and Hydra kill you.” 

Natasha looked at the seven year old standing in front of her with confusion and a bit of fear on her face. Tony stood up just in case Peter decided to attack her for some odd reason. “Peter, she’s okay. Natasha is nice.” 

Peter shook his head. “Bad. Romanoff. Hydra kill.” 

Natasha stood up quickly and looked at Tony with narrowed eyes. “What is he talking about?” 

“I don’t know.” Tony rushed out and kneeled in front of Peter but Peter was looking up at Natasha. “Peter, what are you talking about?” 

Peter didn’t say anything and continued to stare at Natasha so Tony quickly stood up and picked Peter up along with him, setting Peter on his hip. He pointed to the elevator and set his eyes on Natasha. “Leave. You need to leave right now.” 

Natasha didn’t look like she planned on going anywhere. “I want to know what Peter is talking about.” 

Tony turned his body so Natasha couldn’t see Peter but Peter shifted on his hip so his eyes were right back on her. “Not now. I’ll talk to him but you need to leave.” 

Natasha looked like she wanted to argue more but Tony knew that she knew that he was one minute away from getting the suit and forcing her out. 

Both boys watched her leave and Tony sighed heavily once she was gone. He turned and raced up the stairs towards his bedroom while still holding Peter in his arms. He shut his bedroom door and locked it then sat on the bed and sat Peter beside him. 

“Peter, I need you to tell me who that is and how you know her.” Tony asked desperately and he hated how he had to ask Peter these questions but he had to know. 

Peter looked into Tony’s eyes with no emotion behind them. It looked as if Peter had left his body altogether and it was scary. 

“Peter.” Tony said desperately and waved his hand in front of Peter’s face. 

Peter shook his head and climbed off the bed. Tony watched him walk over to the door and attempted to open it so Tony got off the bed and walked over to Peter to try and stop him. “Peter, I need you to talk to me.” 

Peter looked up at Tony with tears in his eyes. “Gonna hurt Tony.” 

Tony kneeled down. “Who is, Peter?” 

Peter whimpered. “Romanoff.” 

Tony didn’t know why Peter was saying this or what information led him to believe that. “No, she’s my friend. Natasha is nice. Remember I told you?” 

Peter looked frustrated and confused. Tony knew it was because Hydra had obviously led Peter to believe a story about Natasha and told Peter false information on her and now Tony was telling Peter the opposite of what he was led to believe. 

The boy whimpered and walked over to the bed to climb up on it. Tony followed him and sat down. “I need you to tell me, Pete. What did Hydra tell you about Natasha?” 

Peter shook his head and whimpered again. “Bad. Hydra has to kill and go bye.” 

Tony was used to Peter’s broken sentences but it was hard to understand what Peter was trying to say and how much information the seven year old actually knew. “Do you mean that Hydra wanted to eliminate Natasha?” 

After a few seconds, Peter looked up at Tony. “Eli- il… ate?”

“Eliminate. It means to get rid of something.” Tony patiently explained to Peter. “Did Hydra want to do that to Natasha?” 

Peter sighed tiredly and laid down on the bed. “Don’ know. Sorry, Tony. M’tired, Tony.” 

Tony sighed as well. He rubbed Peter’s back and thought back to the promise he made to himself that he would never try and get information out of Peter. He tried not to break that promise but after what just happened, he had to know whether or not Peter knew anything and it didn’t look like Peter knew that much. 

“Do you want to take a nap? I’ll come if you need me.” Tony asked Peter and rubbed his back. 

Peter let out a yawn and rubbed his eyes. “Blanket?” 

Tony stood up. “You left it on the couch. I’ll go get it for you and come right back.” 

Peter sat up and waited for Tony to return with his blankie and his baby deer. Peter made desperate grabby hands for both so Tony handed them to Peter and pulled off his dirty socks. 

“You sleep. If you need me, yell for me and I’ll come.” Tony rubbed his back and smiled at Peter. He watched Peter’s eyes shut and another yawn escape him so he quietly left the room after that. 

“Keep me updated on him, FRI.” Tony said and headed down to his lab. He had a lot of research to do. “And tell Natasha to meet me in my lab.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Important news!! 
> 
> But first, is it Natasha Romanoff? Or Romanov? Because I’ve seen both and I’m very confused? 
> 
> Soooo I’m getting a kitten next week ahhhh!!! I’m sooooooo freaking excited! I also got a call from my work yesterday saying that I can go back some time soon idkkk when exactly but I’m guessing the week after next week which I’m excited about but I’m also a bit sad because I’m getting my kitten and immediately have to go back to work so that’s sad but it’ll be okay!! 
> 
> That being said, I’m going to take a little break from writing and posting for a few weeks. I don’t know FOR SURE if I’ll be taking a break, I feel like I left it off on a horrible spot to take a small break so I’m going to try my best to write for you guys but with my new kitten idk if I’ll have time since I’ll want to be with him a lot:) 
> 
> I hope you all understand but just know that I might not take a break and if I do, I’ll come back eventually so it’ll be okkk:) 
> 
> Anyways.... here’s Peter’s baby deer: 
> 
> https://b3h2.scene7.com/is/image/BedBathandBeyond/25515341100448p?$690$&wid=690&hei=690
> 
> Peter’s car seat: 
> 
> https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/91E4kF%2Bg9dL._SL1500_.jpg


	15. Everybody wants to be loved

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m backkkkk!!! 
> 
> I hope you guys like this chapter:)

When Tony got down to his lab, Natasha was already there and waiting for him. 

“Where’s Peter?” Natasha asked as if she expected Tony to bring the child down to the lab with him. 

“He’s sleeping.” Tony typed in his code and pushed open the doors to walk into the lab. 

“Did you ask him what the hell he meant by that? He knows more than he’s letting on, Tony.” Natasha followed him over to his work desk and pulled up a stool with him. 

Tony looked over at her. “Stop acting like he’s a twenty year old man I’ve found at Hydra. He’s seven years old, Natasha. He does not know anything.” 

Tony hated this constant conversation that they kept on having. He thought that if Natasha saw that Peter was in fact a child with her own two eyes then it would get her to stop pressing for information but apparently not. 

He turned on his computer and waited for the file to load so he could see what information he missed when he went over Peter’s file before. 

“He apparently knows a lot. Why would he say that about me then? He recognized me, Tony.” Natasha told him and leaned closer to the computer so she could see what kind of information she can get her eyes on. 

Tony groaned. “Well, did you recognize him? Maybe he’s right and he somehow knows you instead of knowing of you.” 

“Please, Stark. I may be great at lying but I wouldn’t be able to get past you and you know that.” Natasha rolled her eyes and turned the computer more towards her so she could read over the full file that she had never seen before since Tony was keeping everything private. 

Tony smirked. That was true. If Peter was right, Natasha wouldn’t have been able to pretend to be a secret Hydra agent with him. She wouldn’t fool Tony Stark. 

“Does anyone else know you’re down here?” Tony asked because the last thing he wanted was someone demanding to come down to the lab and start asking him questions but he wouldn’t put it past any of the idiots upstairs. 

“No. I’m not with them all the time, Stark.” Natasha told him. “I have my own life and I do my own things.” 

“Yeah. Of course.” Tony said sarcastically. “Because I bet Fury let’s anyone out of his sight without asking questions.” 

Natasha scuffed. “He asks questions but I don’t always answer him. Just like you.” 

Tony chuckled. That was very true. 

“Oh wait.” Natasha clicked on a file that read The Spider: mission report. “Have you looked at this before?” 

Tony grabbed the mouse pad from her. “No.” He clicked on it and waited for it to load. “I just tried to find out more about his powers but at the time… this all seemed unimportant.” 

“I told you you should have sent this to me.” Natasha blamed him. 

“Seriously? Are we really going to point the blame card?” Tony didn’t take his eyes away from the screen and continued to watch it load. Part of him was scared that he would see something that he didn’t want to see. He didn’t know what that would be until he saw it but it was a fear in his mind. 

Both of them began to read the small paragraph that was there. It talked about the research behind Peter and what they wanted him to be. A spider assassin for Hydra. Tony knew that. He put the pieces together and it made most sense. 

It didn’t mean that that was what Peter was now because he wasn’t. It was what Hydra would have turned Peter into if Tony never saved him. The thought of them never going to that Hydra base and Tony never finding Peter, terrified him for many reasons. 

They continued to read the file that was there but nothing caught Tony’s eye or Natasha’s. Although it was all new information to Tony, he had already known most of it from what he’s picked up on from living with the child for the past little while. 

“Wait. Read this.” Natasha pointed to a section further down the page and scrolled up a bit. 

Tony read it and his jaw dropped. 

Hydra was training Peter based off on Natasha’s training from the Red Room. Where she had been trained at a very young age, just like Peter. 

“How would they know what training you went through?” Tony asked, completely lost at this point. 

Natasha continued to stare at the page as she spoke. “It was a Russian facility. Russia harbours a good amount of Hydra so that explains it.” 

She clicked off the file and continued to scroll through the other files. Tony didn’t know what she was looking for but he had an idea and when she stopped and clicked on a file that read Arachnid Training: Black Widow and The Spider, he knew he was right. 

“This is it. Natasha Romanoff. This is my file and all the training that I did.” Natasha pointed out but she didn’t have to because Tony was looking at it with her. 

“Stop. Go back up.” Tony ordered and pointed to a section for Peter. “This is what they took from your training and used it with him.” 

Both of them read it over and then read it over again. Natasha spoke, almost sounding scared. “They were trying to turn Peter into the next Black Widow but superhuman. Possibly to kill me. Which makes sense, from what Peter said.” 

Tony didn’t say anything. He was still trying to process everything. 

Natasha continued. “Maybe they told Peter or he overheard.” 

“He overheard.” Tony told her. Natasha turned to him so he continued. “They wouldn’t tell him anything. He didn’t even know how to use the bathroom. He still doesn’t without my help because they never taught him, they never taught him anything so why would they tell him valuable information like this? They wouldn’t. So he overheard. That’s why when I asked him he didn’t tell me anything but repeat what he already said.” 

“It says the training wasn’t scheduled until he was eight.” Natasha said, reading off the file. 

“The training hasn’t started yet. They wanted to wait until he was older and continue giving him injections.” Tony told her, basically repeating what she already told him. 

Natasha looked at him. “Tony. Are you positive that Peter is not a threat to you?” 

“More sure than anything I’ve ever been in my life.” Tony told her and it was the truth. After seeing the way Peter gets ready to take on someone more than five times his size and weight to protect him from potential danger, he knows Peter wouldn’t ever hurt him intentionally. Besides the smacks he occasionally gets when Peter gets frustrated at him. 

“Alright. If you’re sure.” Natasha concluded. “I want to talk to you now about Barnes and-” 

She was cut off by FRIDAY. “Boss, young Peter is awake and is asking for your assistance.” 

Tony was immediately getting up. “I’ll be right back. Stay here.” 

Tony raced upstairs and opened his bedroom door. He saw Peter sitting up in the bed with his thumb in his mouth so Tony walked over to him. “Do you need me, Pete?” Tony asked as he took Peter’s thumb from his mouth and held his hand instead. 

“Thirsty.” Peter said and grabbed at his throat. 

“Alright. I’ll go get you some water and I’ll be right back up-” 

Peter started whining and sat up on his knees. “Take me too, Tony.” 

Tony smiled. He thought back to what he just found out about Peter and the future plans that Hydra had for him. If only he was a year or possibly even just a few months late, Peter would have been a totally different person in a bad way and that thought terrified Tony. 

“Okay, do you want to sleep a bit after?” Tony asked Peter and hoped that he said yes because he wanted to go back down to the lab and talk to Natasha but he couldn’t leave Peter alone and he couldn’t bring Peter with him. 

Peter shook his head. “No.” 

“Okay.” Tony didn’t know what to do now but he would figure it out after he got Peter his water. He sat Peter on top of the counter after he got downstairs and grabbed a glass then filled it up with water and helped Peter drink it. 

“So I know you were a bit scared last time but I promise you that Natasha is nice. She would never hurt you or me so can she come back up so I can talk to her?” Tony asked Peter who furrowed his eyebrows. 

“Nice?” Peter asked, quietly. 

Tony smiled and nodded his head. “Yes. She’s very nice and she just wants to be friends with you but it’s okay if you don’t want to be friends with her right now.” 

“She-she… bad. And, Hydra says soon to kill Romanoff.” Peter explained like it was painful for him to try and remember while also getting the words out. 

“Did Hydra Tell you that?” Tony asked but he already knew the answer. He just wanted to be sure. 

Peter’s eyes went wide and he covered his mouth while he shook his head. “No. I listen but I’s bad for listened.” 

Tony nodded. So he was right, Peter overheard what Hydra’s plans with Natasha were. “Hydra was wrong. They were all wrong because they were mean to you, right, bud?” 

Peter didn’t answer. He reached for his cup again while Tony helped him as he continued. “Hydra was mean to you and they lied but I’m telling you the truth, bud, she’s nice, okay? So can she come up?” 

Peter whimpered. “No. Gon’ hurt you.” 

“I promise she won’t.” Tony said again which seemed like the tenth time now. 

“Okay.” Peter finally said so Tony lifted him off the kitchen counter and placed him on his feet. He let Peter lead him over to the living room. 

“FRI, tell Nat to come up and that Peter is awake now.” Tony said to FRIDAY as he made himself comfortable again on the carpet. 

Less than a minute later, the elevator doors were opening and Natasha was walking out, looking like she was dying for some information. 

Peter watched her with wide eyes and then as she got closer and sat herself down on the carpet as well, Peter climbed into Tony’s lap and let out a whimper. 

Tony’s hand immediately went up to Peter’s back to rub it and try to calm him down. He knew that even after everything, Peter loved his physical contact and reassurance which Tony was more than happy to give. 

“Hi Peter. I know that Hydra told you some bad things about me but what they told you, it isn’t true. Tony is my friend and now so are you.” Natasha spoke calmly. It was weird for Tony to hear her speak like that since he’s never heard her speak to a child before. 

Peter shook his head and turned around to glare at Natasha. “No. Not friends.” 

“Why can’t I be friends with you?” Natasha asked him, more curious than hurt. 

Peter shook his head again. “No. Tony my friend so go ‘way.” 

Tony picked Peter up a bit so he was sitting on his lap and not sitting up on his knees and blocking his view from Natasha. “Peter means that we can’t be friends since Pete and I are already friends.” 

“But Peter, someone can have more than one friend.” Natasha tried but Peter shook his head again and turned on Tony’s lap so he could wrap his arms around him. 

“No.” Peter said, not leaving any room up for debate. 

Tony wanted this conversation to end now because he didn’t like how uncomfortable Peter was. He wanted Peter to be comfortable enough to tell him that he doesn’t want to continue talking to Natasha but even in his obvious discomfort, Peter didn’t say anything to him. 

“Did Hydra tell you anything else, Peter?” Natasha asked just like the spy she was, always trying to get as much information as possible but this was exactly what Tony didn’t want. 

“Nope. I told you, he isn’t an object for information.” Tony was already getting ready to stand up and leave but he still trusted Natasha would stop when he said no. 

“I think we should let the kid decide if he wants to answer my questions.” Natasha shot her eyes up at him and it may scare other people but a death glare from The Black Widow didn’t scare him. 

“My kid. And I said no.” Tony shot one of his own death glares at her, even though he knew it didn’t phase her either. 

Peter crossed his arms and looked at her as well, trying to look threatening but looking like a wide eyed puppy. 

“Doesn’t matter anyways because we are going. Come on, Pete. Grab some toys you want and put it in this box.” Tony lifted Peter off of him and stood up with Natasha standing up too. 

“Books, Tony?” Peter asked as he picked up some books and looked up at Tony. 

“Yeah. Put all the books you want.” Tony told him and grabbed another box so he could get some of his clothes to bring with them. “I’m going to be right back.” 

Natasha followed him. “Tony. You can’t actually say that he’s your kid. You’ve known him for barely a week.” 

Tony stopped to look at her. “Then who’s kid is he? He doesn’t have anyone else.” 

Natasha didn’t look sad at that information, she looked like she expected it. “You’re going to confuse him by saying that he’s your kid in front of him and saying it to yourself. When you have to give him away it’s only going to be harder on everyone-” 

“Hold up.” Tony felt like he just got punched in the face. “Give him away? Who said I’m giving him away? We created a bond together and I’m trying to build on that.” 

Natasha sighed and shook her head, looking extremely regretful. “You can’t keep him, Tony. Once Fury finds out, he’s going to want to place him in an environment where he can grow and learn with people who know what they’re doing.” 

“Fury isn’t taking him anywhere and I don’t give a motherfucking shit about what he wants.” Tony spat out, wanting to slap Natasha for saying this to his face. “And stop talking about Peter as if he is some stray dog that I took in.” 

Natasha was silent for a few seconds. “Isn’t that what he is? An orphaned kid you took in.” 

Tony shook his head. He couldn’t believe someone he considered one of his close friends was saying this to him right now. “Fuck you, Natasha.” 

Tony turned and continued walking up the stairs but Natasha followed him. “You can swear at me all you want, Tony, but you and I both know how this story is going to end. You’re going to lose Peter whether you like it or not. I’m just trying to make this easier for the both of you, stop saying he’s your kid.” 

“I won’t lose him. If anyone tries to take him, I’ll kill them. Problem solved.” Tony walked into his closet and started ripping clothes off the hangers, he didn’t know how much he needed because he didn’t know how long he would be gone for. 

“You’re getting too involved, Tony. I’m telling you right now, you will lose the kid.” Natasha said with so much confidence that it actually terrified Tony. 

“No I won’t.” Tony said with no confidence behind his words. 

“You weren’t supposed to end up with him, Tony. It wasn’t supposed to be this way.” She said then stepped in front of Tony to get him to look at her. Tony picked up the box and pushed passed her. 

Tony didn’t know what she was talking about but he didn’t care to ask. To give into what she was trying to do. It wouldn’t surprise him if she told Fury and if he told her to say all this. 

He went down the stairs and walked into the kitchen to grab some juice and cookies that he had in the cabinet which were probably expired now. 

Natasha was still on him. “Barnes knows about the kid and we have a lead on him. He’s in New York and Steve wants us to go find him which we are planning on doing.” 

“If you know where Barnes is then why don’t you just go get him to get Steve’s boyfriend back. That doesn’t involve me.” 

“If it involves Peter, it involves you. And you know it’s not that simple.” Natasha grabbed his arm so he couldn’t walk past her. 

“I have to go. I don’t give a fuck about Barnes but apparently you do so go worry about that.” Tony pushed past her once again and walked into the living room to grab Peter. “Time to go, Peter. Can you carry that box?” 

Peter jumped up in excitement at seeing Tony and excitedly grabbed the box and walked over to Tony. It did look a little funny, seeing a seven year old who was practically the size of a five year old carrying a heavy box but Tony knew he could lift it no problem. 

They stepped into the elevator and Tony turned to look at Natasha one last time. “If I find out you told Fury about him, I’m going after you first.” 

Maybe Peter wasn’t wrong after all. Natasha was trying to hurt Tony where it would hurt him the most. 

Tony placed the boxes into the trunk of his car and walked to the backseat to get Peter into his car seat while his mind was going a mile a minute. He didn’t want to think about someone taking Peter away from him but he knew that by not thinking about it, he’s letting that person get the upper hand. 

He had no fucking idea what to do. 

“In front.” Peter said to him, pulling Tony from his thoughts. 

Tony looked down at Peter and lifted him into the car seat. “No. I told you that you are too small and too young. I will get in trouble.” 

Peter’s eyes went wide and curious as he stopped squiming and looked up at Tony. “In trouble because yous bad?” 

“It’s you’re, Peter.” Tony corrected and got the seatbelt on. “And if you sit in the front seat then I’ll get pulled over by the policeman and get in trouble?” 

Peter went to poke Tony in the face as he spoke. “Then go in corner?” 

Tony never put Peter in the corner when he was bad so he knew that that had to have been one of the punishments at Hydra which seems reasonable. He knows parents do those things when trying to discipline their kids. 

“You went in the corner when you were bad?” Tony asked him. 

Peter frowned. “For all day.” 

“You went in the corner all day?” Tony asked, a bit more confused now but he never knew if he could trust Peter’s word or if the kid was just saying whatever came to his mind at the time. 

Although he had a feeling this topic wouldn’t just randomly come to Peter’s mind unless it actually happened to him. 

“All day for twelve time’s around the clock when bad.” Peter told Tony as if it was nothing and as if it was completely normal which made Tony feel sick. 

“Peter. Look at me, buddy. I will never ever put you in the corner because that was not very nice of them, was it?” 

Peter shook his head. “No. It’s not.” 

“It wasn’t. That was very rude of them no matter how bad you may have been.” 

Peter shrugged his arms up in the ‘I don’t know gesture’. “I’s just get hungry ‘gin but no and so thirsty.” 

Tony felt his heart breaking after hearing all of what Peter had to say. He hated hearing about Peter’s time at Hydra because it made him sick. He wanted to go back and kill everyone there if they weren’t already dead. 

“I’m so sorry, Peter. Never again, okay? I promise you that.” Tony would keep that promise until the day he dies. 

He pulled out the box of cookies and the juice then handed Peter two so he didn’t eat too much junk and get a stomach ache but he still wanted Peter to have some food. 

“We need to make a quick stop at a store to get some clothes and more food but you eat this until then.” Tony told Peter once he got into the car and turned it on. 

“Then go back to house?” Peter asked with melted chocolate already all over his hands and face. 

“Uh, not the house, bud. We can’t go back there. We’re gonna go back to the hotel.” Tony explained to the seven year old and pulled out of his garage. 

“Is hotel new house?” Peter asked him and tiled his head, causing Tony to coo at the action. 

“No. It’s just for a little bit. I don’t know how long.” Tony tried to think of the best store to go to that would be quiet with not too much attention on them which might be a tad hard considering they are in New York City. 

Peter was content to stare out the car window while Tony drove a bit out of the city to a more quieter place. He knew that someone might spot him with Peter but hopefully his disguise will prevent that. 

Tony pulled up to a rather ghetto shop that had the parking on a broken road that led to the parking lot. It was sketchy and a tad concerning but so was taking Peter to Walmart in Manhattan. 

“I’m carrying you because I can see your toes.” Tony grabbed Peter’s big toe and wiggled it, causing Peter to start giggling. “I can see you took your socks off.” 

Peter nodded his head and grinned at him. He had so much personality showing up in the cute little gesture that had Tony melting. He was going to prove Natasha wrong because he couldn’t let anyone take this kid from him. 

“It’s gone.” Peter said, lifting his arms up for Tony to pull him into his arms and on his hip. 

“I can see that. Do you want them on?” Tony asked him before he shut the door but Peter shook his head. 

As soon as Tony walked into the shop, he grabbed a bag of grapes and handed them to Peter to keep him occupied and keep him from grabbing every single item he sees. 

The walk through the store was quick. Tony just grabbed a few outfits and pyjamas for Peter as well as some food options like granola bars and crackers. He planned on ordering their meals still but he needed stuff for Peter to munch on. 

“The red one.” Peter pointed to a box of cheese crackles that were red. “Red, Tony.” 

“I can see. Do you want to grab it?” Tony walked closer to the shelf so Peter could grab it and then headed to the lineup to pay and back to the car with Peter still holding onto his grapes and his red box of cheese crackers. 

“Tired, Tony.” Peter rubbed at his eyes but Tony didn’t know why since it wasn’t like Peter to be tired at that time but he assumed it was because he went through a lot of emotions today with meeting Natasha and visiting the tower. 

“That’s okay. You can sleep on the car ride back.” Tony rubbed his back then set Peter on his feet so he could unlock the car and get the stuff into the trunk. 

Peter tried to open the back door while Tony walked around to the other side of the car. “Do you want me to put your red box in the trunk or are you gonna hold it?” 

“Hold it. Open door.” Peter tried to get the door to open but it still wasn’t opening so Tony pressed the key again. 

“Try now.” Tony shoved the last item into the trunk but a box fell out so he turned around to grab it. He put the box into the trunk and shut it but he still didn’t hear an answer from Peter. “Did it open? Peter?” 

Tony walked around the side of the car but he didn’t see Peter there. The red box and grapes were on the ground which had Tony’s heart speeding up. “Peter?!” 

When he looked up and saw Peter in the arms of Bucky, Tony’s worst fear was now coming true and he feared that Natasha would be right. 

“Get the hell away from him.” Tony strided towards the two of them but stopped just in front since Barnes was holding Peter against his chest with his arm around his stomach. 

Peter was making grabby hands at him and little whining noises escaped his mouth which made Tony want to beat the shit out of Bucky right then and there. 

“Stark.” Bucky said in a low voice. “I won’t hurt him.” 

Tony looked around to see if anyone was watching them. There were in the vacant parking lot behind the building so no one was there to see them since there was a forest surrounding them from all angles. 

“If you do, I’ll kill you without a second thought.” Tony glared at Bucky and didn’t take his eyes off of him. 

Bucky hesitantly took a step back, away from Tony. “I have to take him.” 

“Fuck that. He’s not going anywhere-” 

“Has he started showing symptoms?” Bucky asked, cutting him off and looking desperate. 

Tony paused. He didn’t know what Bucky meant but his first thought was the spider bite and the powers that came along with that but he wasn’t sure. “Symptoms? What the fuck are you talking about?!” 

Bucky took his eyes off of Tony to look around the parking lot, as if he was waiting for something or someone. “Illness symptoms.” 

Tony just stared at the man who was crazy. He knew that Steve’s friend's brain was put in a blender then placed back into his skull. More than once. 

“I don’t have time to explain, Stark, but you need to trust me when I tell you, he’s going to die if I don’t take him right now.” Bucky said desperately and although Tony wanted to believe that he was full of shit, he couldn’t help but want to listen to the man but he didn’t. 

“Fuck off. Hand me the kid and I won’t call up Fury to come and arrest your ass to have you locked up for the rest of your life.” Tony spat out and took another step towards them. Bucky didn’t move. 

“Listen to me, he needs to go back. He’s going to get really sick and once that happens, it’s already too late.” Bucky rushed out but Tony didn’t believe him. How could he believe a man who was trained by Hydra and somehow escaped. Bullshit. 

Tony grabbed Peter out of Bucky's arms and carried Peter over towards the car, holding him tightly and feeling Peter hold him tightly back. 

“Gonna hurt.” Peter whined out when Tony sat him in his car seat and glanced back but Barnes was nowhere to be seen. He just wanted to get out of there. 

“He’s not. You’re okay now.” Tony quickly put the seatbelt on Peter and shut his door then got into the car and drove away. 

His heart was beating a mile a minute and he felt sick to his stomach. He didn’t want Natasha to be right about someone taking Peter away from him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiiii guys!! It’s been so long ahhhhh but as some of you may have seen, this fic will have 20 chapters:) it’s so weird because I’m ending this fic, I’ve already written and edited all the chapters so I’m done but like it was such a hard thing to do but I had to since I’m extremely busy with work now because I got offered a full time position ahhh!! And I can’t remember if I told you guys but my kittens name is Minka! He’s the cutest thing ever and my best friend I love him soooo much omg omg!!!!


	16. Feels like I’m a million miles away

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiiii guys!!!! I hope everyone is doing okkk:)

When they got back to the hotel, Tony had to carry Peter up since he had fallen asleep in the car. He debated waking him up so Peter could help him carry one of the boxes up but he didn’t since he knew Peter needed to rest his eyes. 

So he grabbed a hotel baggage porter and used that to carry up both of the boxes and the bags from the store while he carried Peter in his other arm. 

He has gotten used to multitasking since Peter came along. 

He physically relaxed once he got up to their hotel and locked the door behind him. He was exhausted after the day and it wasn’t even dinner time yet but he wanted to collapse onto the bed and sleep for twelve hours. 

Tony grabbed one of the boxes and placed it on the dresser but just as he was about to lay Peter on the bed so he could take his nap there, Tony felt a warmth spreading on his side and down to his jeans. He cringed because he knew what that was. 

He moved Peter’s lower half a bit away from him but it was useless since he had already gotten the pee all over his shirt and even down his pants which was now becoming cold and extremely uncomfortable. 

Tony continued to hold Peter as he quickly decided how to go about this situation. He debated if he should wake Peter up to get him in the shower and into clean clothes but he still wanted Peter to stay asleep. 

So he carefully grabbed a pair of track pants that they got and gently laid Peter on the bed. For a split second, he thought that Peter was about to wake up but he thankfully didn’t so Tony pulled the wet pants off of him and tossed them into a corner because he actually had no idea what he was going to do with them. 

He then put Peter’s feet on through the pants one by one and pulled it up to his waist. He was grateful that the kid stayed asleep even though he was moving him around quite a lot. 

Tony was also grateful that he had some of his own clothes to change into when he got out of the shower. 

Tony took his time in the shower since he knew that Peter was still sleeping and if he wasn’t then he was positive that Peter would have tried to make his way into the bathroom to try and find him. 

When he got out, he was well aware of the fact that he had to take this time and call Pepper. She had been sending him emails and calling him for the past week but he’s ignored everything. 

They weren’t in a relationship anymore… not really. He wasn’t actually sure but he was positive it was done. Especially after he ignored her for a week straight. 

Tony grabbed his phone and walked over to the bed to check on Peter. There was a faint wheezing sound coming from him so Tony carefully turned him onto his side and put a pillow behind his back, not really thinking anything of it. 

He then went into the hallway to make the phone call to Pepper that he was dreading. He had the door a crack open so he could still keep an eye on Peter in the room for his own sanity. 

On the first call, Pepper didn’t answer. 

Part of Tony was grateful for that because then he could say that he tried to call but there was no answer. 

Just as he was about to walk back into the room, his phone rang with her name appearing in the front. Tony groaned, taking a calming breath then pressing answer and holding his phone to his ear. 

“Hello?” Pepper said, already sounding annoyed. 

“Hey. Look, I can explain everything. Just not right now.” Tony would always be a tad scared of her because he knows that she is always right, no matter what. Even when he doesn’t want to admit that he’s wrong and she’s right. 

“I don’t even know where to begin, Tony.” Pepper started. “You disappeared from the tower and went who knows where, then you stopped answering my calls, texts and emails. Are you still a part of your company because it doesn’t look that way?” 

Tony rubbed a hand over his face. “I am. Something… came up. Something important and I promise I’ll tell you. Just not yet.” 

“How am I supposed to believe you? Are you doing drugs again?” Pepper asked him seriously and Tony hated that she would even go to that. 

“What? No. Absolutely not.” 

“Are you hiding somewhere and drinking yourself into a coma?” She asked again, no joking in her voice. 

“No.” 

There was silence on the phone for a few seconds with no one saying anything. Tony wanted to tell Pepper everything, a week ago he would have but now things were different and things changed. 

“Alright. I’ve tried with you, Tony. I really have but you seem to be living in your own world so until you decide to talk to me and really talk to me then I’m gonna go. I don’t know what’s going on with you right now or why you’ve run away from everything but I hope it’s for a good reason and a reason that’ll be worth it.” Pepper hung up after that, without even giving Tony the chance to say anything. 

He dropped his arm down and laid his head up against the wall with a sigh. That phone call left him feeling extremely anxious but that wasn’t any different from how he had already been feeling since him and Peter got to the hotel. 

It just wasn’t a safe place for them to stay. Basically Tony was on the run from the Avengers and Fury and Peter was missing from a Hydra base. He had no idea if anyone was after Peter or not. And he had no way of knowing unless he was at the tower and in his lab so he could do the research. 

Tony walked back into the hotel room and locked the door behind him then tossed his phone onto the bed and went to go run a hand over Peter’s face. 

When he did that, he was met with a hot and sweaty face. Tony wiped his hand on the bedding and pulled some of the blankets off of Peter since he was clearly overheating with all the blankets on him. 

He stood up and laid down on the other bed, shutting his eyes. His intention wasn’t to fall asleep but he ended up doing that anyways. 

.  
.  
.

Tony wasn’t sure how much later he woke up but when he did, he looked over in the next bed and found that Peter was still sleeping. 

That was extremely weird since Peter already doesn’t take naps and now he was sleeping for over four hours. 

The billionaire unlocked his phone and saw that it was already seven in the evening so they missed lunch and dinner. Although it was weird that Peter still didn’t wake up, Tony didn’t think too much of it. 

He got out of the bed and sat next to Peter’s still form. “Hey, kid. It’s time to wake up. Are you hungry?” 

Peter didn’t even move and Tony could feel that he was extremely hot. “Peter. Up up. It’s time to wake up so we can eat some dinner.” 

Tony stood up to open the curtains a bit to try and get some light into the room and open the window for some fresh air. He just had to make sure Peter didn’t get too close to the open window or Tony was sure that the kids curiosity would get the better of him. 

He walked back over to the bed and saw that Peter was awake but he was still lying down and was looking up at the ceiling with a blank stare. “Did you sleep good, Pete? You’ve been sleeping for a long time.” 

Peter continued to stare blankly at the ceiling until Tony came into view and then he was looking up at him. “Hey, bud.” 

Tony sat down on the bed, a bit concerned. Peter usually woke up with a smile on his face and ready to start learning new things but now it looked as if he was sleeping with his eyes closed. It was scary. 

“Hurts.” Peter said and looked up at Tony with more focus in his eyes. 

“What hurts, buddy?” Tony asked him and cupped his cheek. Peter rubbed at his stomach and Tony smiled weakly. “That’s because you’re hungry. We didn’t eat lunch or dinner but I’ll order something right now.” 

While Tony ordered some food up, he kept his eyes on Peter who still hadn’t made a move to get up. It was concerning to see because it wasn’t normal. 

After he hung up the phone, he stood over Peter and held his arms out to see if Peter wanted to be picked up. Tony wasn’t surprised when Peter lifted his arms up weakly so Tony carried him in his arms and over to the bathroom. Peter felt a lot more heavier in his arms for some reason. He felt like he was deadweight in his arms which wasn’t what Tony was used to when holding the kid. 

“We’ll eat soon, Pete.” Tony reassured him then placed Peter on the toilet to go to the bathroom. 

Peter looked hesitant as he rubbed his stomach again and looked up at Tony with desperate eyes. “Tony.” Peter whimpered. 

“After you eat, you’ll feel a lot better.” Tony reassured him again. He didn’t know what to do but there wasn’t anything he could do but wait for the food to be delivered so they could eat. 

It was another thing that Tony had to be careful of because he was aware of the fact that Peter had a fast metabolism. He wasn’t sure how fast exactly but he knew he shouldn’t have been so irresponsible as to not feed Peter lunch or dinner on time. 

Tony held Peter’s hand to walk back to the room with him but the kid was slowly trailing behind him and now that Tony really looked at him, he looked pale and sickly. 

Tony thought back to their encounter with Barnes and how the ex assassin had said that Peter would get sick if he didn’t take him back. Tony didn’t want to think about the possibility of Barnes being right which would then make Natasha right. 

He went with his forced instincts because he didn’t want to even think about the possibility of it being something other than Peter being hungry and just needing food in him. 

Peter was barely talking even when the food came up. 

From the time that Tony has known Peter which isn’t that long but it’s long enough to know that even though Peter can’t speak that well, he still loves to talk and look at everything, trying to learn as much as possible. 

It was rather scary to see Peter so quiet and still. His eyes passing over nothing in particular. 

Tony pressed a hand to Peter’s forehead to try and feel how hot he was but he didn’t really know what he was looking for. The kid was definitely hot and he didn’t look well either. 

Tony didn’t know what to do. 

He thought that after Peter ate his dinner, he would start to gain some colour in his face and some life in his eyes but that wasn’t the case at all. 

Peter looked even worse, to Tony’s surprise. 

It was around nine at night and the last thing Tony expected Peter to be was tired but Peter ate most of his food quietly and was now nodding off. 

“Do you want to take a bath, Peter?” Tony asked him as he helped Peter take his now dirty and sweaty clothes off. 

Peter stared straight ahead. “No.” 

It was so scary to see Peter like this. His once kid that was so full of life and wonder was gone and seemed to be leaving more and more. 

Tony was terrified. Mainly because of his meeting with Barnes. He didn’t want that man to be right. He couldn’t have him be right. Not for his sake or Peter’s. 

Tony managed to get Peter’s clean pyjamas on without his help since he was just lying there, awake but lifeless at the same time. 

“Tony.” Peter whimpered and looked up at Tony. 

“Yeah, buddy? What is it?” Tony pulled Peter up and kneeled in front of the bed. 

Peter whimpered a bit more and tears filled his eyes. “Sorry. If-if I’s leave you. Don’ wanna, Tony.” 

Tony cupped his cheek and shook his head at the pale, fragile boy sitting in front of him. “You’re not leaving me, bud. Don’t be sorry. You’re not going anywhere, okay?” 

Tony needed to hear Peter say it, for his own sanity but Peter stayed quiet. 

Tony looked him over a few times and then laid him on the pillow to fall asleep. He just covered him with a thin sheet to try and get his high temperature down. Tony didn’t know what his temperature was but he knew it was high. 

He also knew that he went to bed with a high temperature and woke up with a normal temperature, feeling a lot better so he hoped that that was all Peter needed. 

Peter turned over on the bed to stare at Tony until he eventually drifted off. Tony took a little longer to fall asleep since his mind was occupied with a million different thoughts running through his mind. 

.  
.  
.

The next morning when Tony woke up, Peter was still sleeping. 

He grabbed his phone and checked the time, seeing that it was 6:23am. He put his phone back down on the nightstand table and got out of bed to touch Peter’s face. 

He was in the exact same position that he fell asleep in and although Tony couldn’t see much of his face from the lack of light, he could see that Peter was still extremely pale. 

Touching his face, Tony could feel that the kid was still really hot to the touch and he never had to take care of anyone when they were sick before. Pepper was old enough to take care of herself and he always worked through his illnesses so he was completely clueless as to what to do now. 

He cupped Peter’s face gently and wiped some of sweaty curls off his forehead. “Wake up, Pete. We need to cool you off.” 

When Peter didn’t wake up right away, Tony went into the bathroom to brush his teeth, shower and get dressed for the day since he knew once Peter was awake, he wouldn’t have time to do that. 

He debated on calling Pepper back and asking her for some advice on what to do. He knew that she would know what to do but he wasn’t sure if he should bring up that conversation over the phone. 

Or at all. 

When Tony got out of the bathroom, ready for the day, he walked back over to the bed and shook Peter a bit but when Peter still didn’t move, Tony began to panic a bit. 

“Wake up, Peter. C’mon.” Tony shook Peter again, with a little more force this time and then Peter was waking up a bit and opening his eyes slightly. “Hey. Are you feeling a little bit sick?” 

Peter didn’t even acknowledge that he said anything. 

“I’m going to get you some water, okay, bud?” Tony didn’t wait for a reply because he knew he wasn’t going to receive one. He walked over to the mini fridge in the room and grabbed a cold water bottle but when he looked back over at Peter, he was standing up and swaying slightly. 

“Get back into bed, Pete. I’ll bring the water over.” Tony stood up at the same time as Peter took a couple steps towards him and then stumbled forward. “Peter.” Tony dropped the water bottle in his hand and raced forward to go catch Peter before he hit the ground. “Peter. Look at me, kid. C’mon. Look at me.” 

Tony was shaking Peter a bit to get him to look up at him since Peter was staring blankly at nothing. Tony’s heart was racing and he felt his hands shaking with fear and adrenaline. “Look at me, Peter.” 

Peter looked up at Tony and to Tony’s horror, blood started to fall from Peter’s nose and ears. Tony tried to wipe it away with his shaky hands but there was too much. 

“Peter.” Tony said desperately and wished so badly for this all to just be some horrible nightmare but he knew it wasn’t. He knew Peter was sick and the thought that Barnes was going to be right, terrified him. 

Peter reached a weak hand up to cup at Tony’s face from where he was lying in Tony’s arms, half on the hotel floor and half in Tony’s lap. “Don’ be sad, ‘Ony.” 

Tony reached up to wipe a hand over his face and realized that silent tears were falling down his cheeks. He shook his head and smiled weakly at Peter but then Peter’s head was going limp in his arms and falling back. 

Tony shook him. “No. C’mon, kid. Don’t do this.” 

Tony stood up, lifting Peter into his arms in a bridal carry. He shakily grabbed his keys off the table, slipped on his shoes and left the hotel room. 

If the people he passed by on the way out were looking at him weirdly, he didn’t notice. 

He wasn’t even sure he could drive back to the tower with the state that he was in but he didn’t have any other choice. 

Tony carried Peter out to the car and struggled to open the passenger door. Fuck the law. He wasn’t about to buckle Peter into his car seat when he was already unconscious! 

Tony realized that he left his phone in the hotel room so he couldn’t call anyone and tell them to get ready for him and Peter. 

Driving back to the tower, Tony was trying to stop the panic attack that was coming on and ever so often he would glance over at Peter who was lying lifeless and looking so small in the passenger seat. 

Tony slammed his hands roughly against the steering wheel when traffic started on the highway. There was dried blood on Peter’s face and it scared Tony because he didn’t know what was happening or how long Peter had left. Maybe he was already too late. 

All Tony knew was that if he lost the kid, that would be entirely his fault. He should have stayed at the tower overnight and as much as it sounded ridiculous, he should have listened to Barnes. 

The ex assassin had warned him. He told Tony exactly what would happen and Tony ignored him. He slammed his hands against the steering wheel again and pressed on the gas a little bit harder. 

Tony had no idea what would happen when he got to the tower. He knew that his arrival with an unconscious child would gain the attention of all the Avengers and bring them and Fury up to the MedBay with him. 

He was not prepared for that. 

Once Tony arrived, he didn’t even bother parking his car properly because every second counted and Peter was depending on him. 

He couldn’t have Peter dying. The kid was way too young. He was just starting to live the life that he got a late start on. Tony wanted Peter to experience all the things that Peter never got to experience. 

He wanted Peter to live a happy life because after everything, it’s what he deserves. 

Peter’s head rolled to the side when Tony pulled him out of the car and into his arms so Tony tried to move him so it was more comfortable but Peter was lifeless in his arms so it didn’t matter right now. Tony rushed into the elevator, demanding to be taken up to the MedBay. 

“Get us up to the MedBay, FRIDAY!” Tony yelled out and looked down at Peter. Now that he could really look at his face, he saw how much worse he looked. His face was sickly pale, mixed with the blood from his ears and nose. 

When the elevator doors opened, Tony ran out and was met with four doctors surrounding them with a gurnee. “Please help him.” 

One of the doctors tried to take Peter from his arms but Tony didn’t let him for a second because he didn’t trust Peter with anyone but himself. “You have to let us take him, Mr. Stark.” 

Tony reluctantly let the doctor take Peter but he walked around to stay close to Peter’s small body on the bed.

“What happened?” One of the doctors asked but Tony shook his head and ran a shaky hand through his hair. 

“I-I don’t know. He started acting weird yesterday and then he just collapsed and started bleeding out of his nose and ears.” Tony raced next to the bed as they wheeled Peter into a room. He continued to stay by Peter’s head and run a hand through his sweaty hair as the doctors worked around him and shouted orders at each other. 

“How old is he?” Another doctor asked. 

“He’s seven. His name is Peter.” Tony debated on telling them Peter’s history and as much as he didn’t want to, he knew he had to if he wanted Peter to get the treatment he needed for his abilities. 

“He- he’s from Hydra.” Tony began. “He was tested on there his whole life and he has different abilities so… you have to work with that.” 

All the doctors paused for a split second to grasp what Tony told them before they continued. Tony knew that these were the best medical professionals who weren’t new to the superhuman abilities and how to work with that since they were the doctors for the Avengers and researchers. 

A woman dressed in pink scrubs walked up to him and gently grabbed him by the arm, pulling him away from Peter. Tony pushed her off because he wasn’t going anywhere without Peter. He wasn’t going to leave his side. 

“Mr. Stark,” The woman said desperately. “you need to come with me please. I need to ask you some questions regarding Peter’s abilities.” 

Tony didn’t take his eyes off of Peter as he spoke. “Ask me here. I’m not leaving him. I’m not leaving my kid.” 

The woman hesitated. “Okay. Please take a seat then.” She pulled up a stool next to Peter’s bed but Tony shook his head. 

“Ask me.” He demanded because he wasn’t leaving and he wasn’t going to sit down. 

“Alright. Does Peter have a faster metabolism like Mr. Rogers?” She asked and Tony rubbed a hand over his face. 

He didn’t know the full extent of anything but he should have and he’ll forever regret that. He was speaking before he could even think about what he was saying. “Get Banner up here.” 

“Dr. Banner isn’t in the tower.” The woman said, regretfully. 

Tony turned to look at her for the first time. “Well, find him then. He’s the only one who knows how to test this stuff. Get him in here. Now.” 

The woman hesitated before she rushed out of the room, two others following behind her. Tony looked back down at Peter who had a tube down his throat and a hundred tubes and wires attached all around him. 

His shirt was cut off of him, leaving him bare from the waist up and Tony hated how sick and fragile he looked. “What’s wrong with him?” 

“We don’t know yet. There seems to be an unknown substance in his bloodstream. We’re trying to find out what it is but we aren’t familiar with it.” One of the doctors explained to him in brief but it wasn’t enough. 

There were three machines brought in but Tony had no idea what any of the machines were used for. He had to look away as a giant needle was pressed into Peter’s chest because it looked painful and for the first time, Tony was grateful that Peter was unconscious so he didn’t have to feel that pain. 

The nurse from before walked in with a clipboard and walked over to Tony’s side. “We got in contact with Dr. Banner and he what’s to talk with you.” 

Tony looked down and saw her holding out a phone so he reached for it and put it up to his ear. “Bruce. I need you. I don’t know where you are or what you’re doing but I need you and I wouldn’t be asking if I wasn’t desperate.” 

“I know, Tony. I’m already on my way.” Tony practically started crying in relief at hearing his science buddy’s voice. “Is this your kid, Tony?” 

Tony ran a hand through his hair. “Yes. No, he’s… it’s a lot to explain over the phone but I’ll explain everything to you when you get here.” 

“Alright, Tony. I’ll be there in an hour.” Tony thanked him and hung up the phone, not knowing if Peter would last an hour.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhh!! Just a few more chapters left and then this fic is done! Can it please be September already so I can apply to my schools ahhhhhh omg I’m extremely stressed out and when I think about it I want to start randomly crying:(


	17. When the clouds get heavy and start to fall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s been a week since I last posted omg I promise the next chapter you guys won’t have to wait so long!!!

Tony was pacing back and forth for an hour. 

He was begging whatever deity was up in the clouds for Bruce to come quickly and for Peter to hold on until then. 

When Bruce did arrive, all hell broke loose. 

Apparently, the word got out that Bruce was back and so Natasha found out what happened and then Fury was on everyone’s ass to be allowed access to the MedBay. 

“Don’t let anyone but Bruce up, FRIDAY.” Tony demanded and waited by Peter’s side for Bruce to be let up in the elevator. He hadn’t seen the man in over a year so it was a bit weird to see him again in such circumstances. 

Bruce took one look at Peter when he walked in and already began getting ready. He barely gave Tony a second glance. “Talk to me, Tony.” 

“He’s seven and was raised by Hydra. I don’t know much of what they did to him. He was fine and I had him for about a week and then yesterday he started acting weird and when he woke up today he collapsed and started bleeding from his nose and ears.” Tony explained in one breath and watched carefully as Bruce took a blood sample from Peter and started putting it into tubes. 

“He’s half spider. I mean… he has spider genetics in him. What if this is a side effect of something?” Tony didn’t realize that he had been caressing Peter’s face the whole time. 

“You say he was at Hydra his whole life?” Bruce asked as he had his back to Tony and rolled from side to side in his chair to mix some chemicals into the blood sample. Tony wasn’t sure. 

“Yeah. I know they did testing on him when he was a fetus.” Tony told him but Bruce didn’t answer. 

A doctor walked into the room and started checking Peter over some more. Tony had no idea what was going on. He wasn’t a doctor and the feeling helpless, like he wasn’t able to do anything but watch, was killing him. 

Peter was still lying lifeless on the bed with a bunch of monitors around him and wires attached to his pale skin. Tony leaned down and placed his forehead over Peter’s forehead. “Please don’t leave me, kid. You have to fight to stay alive. Please, Peter. Please.” 

Tony reached forward to grab onto Peter’s hand that didn’t have a bunch of needles in it. He held on tightly because even though he only knew Peter for a short amount of time, the kid made a huge impact on his life and he didn’t want to live a life without him. 

Bruce pulled Tony out of his desperate thoughts. “Peter’s body has been given a type of opioids his entire life and now that he’s not receiving those anymore, his body is going into a symptom of brain adaptations caused by those substances.” 

Tony tried to understand what was going on. “So basically Peter is having a severe withdrawal.” 

Bruce took off his glasses and walked over to Peter. “To put it in simple terms, yes. What Hydra did to him is now going to kill him if he doesn’t get more of it.” 

Tony felt like he got slapped across the face. “So he’s going to die? If-If he doesn’t get the-the drugs?” 

Bruce hesitated before nodding his head. 

Tony had to walk away for a couple seconds to calm down. “So-so even if we can get this… drug… he’ll always need it? For the rest of his life?” 

“No. Not necessarily. If I can find out what they gave him, maybe I can figure out a way to give him something else so his body isn’t so dependent on it.” Bruce walked back to the table and started writing stuff down on his notebook. “It’s impossible though. I have no idea what they gave him.” 

Tony thought back to yesterday and how Bucky wanted to bring Peter back. Tony didn’t think about it then but maybe this was what Bucky meant. 

He was right about Peter becoming sick and almost… dying. 

He didn’t want Peter to go back… but maybe he could find Bucky and go back to the Hydra base with him to get the serum that they were giving Peter. 

Tony didn’t have any other options. His kid was going to die and he couldn’t just sit around and wait for that. He had to do something while he still had a chance. 

“I need to go to the Hydra base where Peter came from.” Tony told Bruce who turned to look at him like he had two heads. 

“You what?” 

“He’s going to die, Bruce. You know that and I know that. Look at him,” Tony looked down at Peter who already looked dead. It looked like his soul had already left his body and there was nothing but a shell left. “I-I have to go back. If this is what it’ll take to save him then I’m not taking any chances.” 

Bruce stood back up and walked over to Tony so they were standing face to face. “If you think you can save him then I’m not going to stop you.” 

Tony nodded. “Thank you. I need-I need you to stay here and watch him. And FRIDAY, don’t let any of the Avengers or Fury up. No one comes into this room unless it’s a doctor.” 

“Yes, Boss.” FRIDAY replied as Tony leaned down to press a kiss to Peter’s nose. He hoped it wasn’t the last one. 

“Hold on, kid. Just hold on a little bit longer.” 

Tony had to leave Peter. He took the elevator up to the common room floor and barely had enough time to prepare himself for the attack that he got as soon as he stepped out. 

“Stark, I swear to god if you have that kid and you didn’t tell us, I’ll kill you.” Fury walked up to him and said. 

Tony walked right past him. “I guess you’ll have to kill me then.” Tony walked over to Steve who was standing there with his arms crossed. “Do you want to find Barnes?” 

Steve’s whole composure fell. “That’s what I’ve been trying to do this whole time.” 

“I’ll find him for you but I need his help after.” Tony said, knowing he got the attention of Steve as well as everyone else in the room but he only wanted Steve. 

“We’ve all been looking for him for weeks with no leads so how do you know where he is?” Steve asked him, letting down his guard a bit. 

“Stark, tell me what is going on right now.” Fury demanded. “Have you been keeping that kid hidden away with you this whole time? I swear to god, Stark.” 

Tony ignored him and raised his eyebrows at Steve. “I’ll tell you everything on the way but will you come with me?” 

“Can you find Bucky?” 

“Yes. I already have.” Tony started walking back towards the elevator but paused to see if Steve was going to follow him and when he did, Tony and him both went to suit up. 

“Stark,” Natasha called out for him, stopping the elevator. “tell me you aren’t doing what I think you’re doing?” 

Tony was getting anxious now because every second counted. “Are you in or out?” 

Natasha stepped into the elevator with them. “I’m in. Are you really going back? All for the kid?” 

Tony didn’t look at her. He didn’t know why she didn’t think Peter was worth it because he was, and so much more. 

“If you’re here to stop me then you can leave because I won’t have you holding me back.” Tony told her because he was still pissed at her for what she said to him yesterday. 

“I’m not going to stop you because I know you can’t be stopped right now.” Natasha told him. 

Tony didn’t say anything but she was right. He would go alone if he had to. 

When the elevator doors opened up on their floor, Natasha and Steve went to go suit up while Tony got the Quinjet ready. He could have his suit called to him right before they leave. 

Once they were all up in the air, Steve walked over to the co-pilot seat and sat down. “How do you know where Bucky is?” 

Tony sighed because he owed it to Steve to tell him and that meant he had to start from the very beginning. “That night at the Hydra base, I found a kid. His name is Peter and I only planned on taking care of him for a day or two. Just until I knew he’d be safe from Fury and his… views on this stuff.” 

“So you knew all along then?” Steve asked him. Tony tried to see if he was mad or not but he didn’t seem mad. More relieved. 

“Yeah. I had the kid and the plans sort of changed along the way.” Tony paused. “Anyways, a few days ago, I went to where the kid and I were hiding out and found that Barnes was there. He somehow found out where I was keeping the kid and tried to take him so I took Peter and I left.” 

Tony didn’t mean for a name slip but it was too late for that now. Everything was out of the bag and there was no use in hiding it anymore. Not when Peter’s life was on the line. 

“Bucky was there and you didn’t bother telling me?” Steve asked, hurtful. 

Tony didn’t feel bad. Not when he only did that for Peter’s sake. “I didn’t tell you because I knew if I did then everyone else would get involved and they’d all find out about Peter.” 

“I’m guessing Natasha knows then? You didn’t look too surprised.” Steve turned in his seat to look at Natasha. 

“I found out.” Natasha answered. 

“I told her not to tell anyone. That’s on me.” Tony added. He didn’t want Steve to be mad at Natasha when they had to stay focused. 

“So how do you know where he is? If this was a few days ago then he could be anywhere.” Steve turned back to Tony to say. 

“Because he found us again yesterday.” Tony said after a few moments of silence. “He told me that he had to take Peter back or he’ll get sick and die. Then Peter got sick, and he doesn’t look like he’s going to pull through unless we go back.” 

Steve looked sad. Tony didn’t know if it was for Peter or his old friend. 

“So I’m not finding Barnes for you, I’m doing this for my kid.” Tony told him with conviction. 

Steve looked into Tony’s eyes. “Your kid?” 

Tony turned the Quinjet off of autopilot and didn’t say anything about that. They’ll find out soon enough. “We’re here.” 

Natasha popped her head up. “Here? Tony, this isn’t anywhere near the Hydra base.” 

“I know. We need Barnes first and I know where he’s hiding out.” The jet landed in an open field just outside of Upstate New York. “There’s a cabin about two hundred feet East. He’s in there.” 

Steve was grabbing his shield and standing up. “How do you know that for sure?” 

Tony didn’t suit up yet. He didn’t need to because he knew Bucky would come willingly. “Because I know he knows that I’m coming for him.” 

The three of them exited the Quinjet and started walking through the forest. Tony would be lying if he said that he wasn’t nervous. He was nervous because if Bucky wasn’t in the cabin, then he didn’t have time to chase him around. Peter needed him to find that serum as soon as possible. 

Up ahead, there was a broken down cabin that looked like no one lived in or had been in for years. Steve was the first one to lift his shield and walk up to it. He hesitated before walking up the two steps and turned to Tony and Natasha. 

She gave him a reassuring nod then Steve was carefully opening the door and walking in. 

Before Tony and Natasha even walked up the steps, Steve was being tackled to the ground by Bucky. 

“Buck?” Steve said once he was thrown onto the ground and grabbed a hold of Bucky. “Bucky. Stop. It’s me. It’s me, Buck.” 

Bucky stopped trying to fight Steve and looked at him. “Steve?” 

“Yeah. It’s me, Buck.” Steve nodded. Bucky let go of him and stood up, pulling Steve to his feet. “We need your help.” 

Bucky looked at Tony and Natasha for the first time. Once he saw Tony, he nodded his head. “Is he alive still?” 

Tony nodded his head. “For now. So we have to be quick.” 

Bucky nodded as well then turned around to grab some things. Steve was watching him with wide eyes the whole time. “How long have you been hiding out here?” 

Bucky turned to look at Steve then grabbed a black pair of goggles and gloves. “A week. Maybe a bit longer. Since Stark took the kid.” 

Tony wanted to ask him so many questions but now wasn’t the right time. “Let’s get moving.” 

The four of them walked through the forest and onto the Quinjet. Bucky sat down and Steve took a seat across from him. 

Tony got the Quinjet into the air and on the right path for the Hydra base then he joined everyone in the back. Bucky looked at him. “I was there that night. The night you took him. I got captured breaking him out, Stark. I want to see him.” 

Tony didn’t know why Bucky was so obsessed with his kid. “How did you know about him? Did you do this to him?” 

Bucky looked offended. “No. I’ve been trying to get him out for years. I knew Hydra had a kid but I didn’t know where they kept him. When I was still… with them,” Bucky glanced over at Steve for a second before looking away. “I saw that they were training a kid to be the next Black Widow but more… deadly.” 

“We found his file.” Natasha said. “How did you know the kid was going to die if he didn’t go back?” 

“Because I know they’ve been testing on him and giving him this serum since he was born. Maybe before that.” Bucky spared another glance up at Steve and Tony stood up to land the jet since they were there. “If I get caught, I won’t be coming back with you.” 

“You won’t get caught.” Steve stood up and said to him, offering a hand out. 

“Okay. I don’t know what we’re going into so just… don’t die. Barnes and I will go get what we need and then we’re out.” Tony was never the one to give the orders but he thinks he nailed that. 

“I’m going with you.” Steve said as Tony suited up. 

“Just don’t slow us down.” The billionaire knew he couldn’t stop Steve from coming because he knew he would be the same way if he hadn’t seen Peter in years. 

It was much like before. Natasha took the lead and went ahead while Tony went in after her and took off in another direction, followed by Steve and Barnes. 

“FRI, lead me to the labs.” Tony said and saw a path light up in his face mask. 

“It seems empty.” Natasha said into the comms that just Tony and Steve had. “It looks like everyone left. We might not find what we came here for.” 

“I’ll find it. Just keep looking.” Tony turned around to look back at Steve. “I’m not leaving until I have it.” 

Steve nodded. “I know, Tony. I’ll stay here with you.” 

Tony was grateful for Steve but if he didn’t find this serum that they came for, Peter wouldn’t survive if Bucky was right and Tony knew he was right. He was right about Peter getting sick and that’s why he tried to bring him back here. 

If only Tony let him explain from the very beginning. Maybe then Peter wouldn’t be fighting for his life right now. 

“This way. Go into that door on the left.” Bucky said so Tony hesitantly walked into the room with white walls. 

He thought that it was a bit eerie being in the building where Peter spent so much of his life. He wondered how many times Peter had walked these halls and walked into this room. He thought about how many bad things happened to Peter in this room that he was currently standing in. How many times Peter had cried for someone to hold him and comfort him but his cries went unanswered. 

Tony looked around the room and drew his face mask up. He walked over to a medicine fridge with a glass door and opened it up. There were a bunch of glass vials in there but he had no idea what he was looking for. He turned to Bucky. 

“They made the serum themselves. It’s called Hemolymph. The vial should be red and blue.” Bucky explained and started searching through the fridge. 

Tony was looking around for this vial desperately because his kids' life depended on it. He found a bottle that matched Bucky’s description and held it up. “Is this it?” Please let this be it. 

Bucky looked at it and nodded. “Yeah. That’s it.” 

“Did you find it?” Steve asked and walked over to them to see it. 

“Yeah. I’m gonna take it all just in case.” Tony grabbed the rest of the glass vials in the containers and put his face mask but down. “We got it, Nat. Meet us at the Quinjet.” Tony said into the comms. 

He was starting to feel anxious now because he had what he came here for and all he needed to do was get it back to Bruce and then it was out of his hands. 

They all got back to the Quinjet so Tony got them in the air and back on route to the tower which would take them fifteen minutes to get back. 

Natasha walked up behind him and sat down in the co-pilot chair. “You’re gonna be in a lot of shit with Fury when we get back.” 

Tony knew that. He didn’t care but he knew it was going to be annoying as fuck. “I’m not dealing with him until I know Peter is okay.” 

“You’re gonna have to explain that to him as well as why you kept Barnes’ whereabouts a secret and why you’re bringing him back with us.” Natasha explained to him and in any other circumstances, Tony would have thought about that but he didn’t. 

“Barnes is with Steve now. That’s not my problem so let Steve deal with it.” Tony ran a hand through his hair and checked their estimated arrival. Eleven minutes. 

“Yeah, but Fury will still want to talk with you.” Natasha continued and Tony groaned. 

“I don’t give a fuck. Fury can go to hell for all I care. Peter is my main priority right now and until he’s awake and okay, I’m not dealing with any of that shit.” Tony stared at the time on the controls. He just wanted to get back to Peter. 

“I’ll try to keep him off of you for as long as I can.” Natasha told him but Tony didn’t say anything. He just needed to get back. 

When they finally landed, Tony grabbed the drug and ran out of the Quinjet. Of course Fury was waiting for him, as well as Sam and Clint. 

“What the hell do you think you’re doing, Stark?! I need some answers.” Fury furrowed his eyebrows at Tony but Tony didn’t pay him any attention. 

He ran into the elevator, demanding that FRIDAY take him down but Fury followed him on. “Get off. You’re not going down to see him.” 

“Yes I am, Stark.” Fury turned to look at him so Tony narrowed his eyes at him. 

“Get the fuck off or I swear to god I won’t hesitate to get my suit.” Tony said in a low voice, not bluffing one bit. 

Fury didn’t move and to Tony’s surprise, Steve forced Fury off of the elevator. Tony gave him a grateful look then the doors shut. When they opened on the MedBay floor, Tony all but sprinted into the room where Peter was. 

There were about five doctors working all around him and Tony’s heart dropped when he saw the state that Peter was in. He was even worse than when he left. 

Bruce looked over at Tony’s frozen spot by the door and walked over to him. “Is this it?” 

Tony nodded his head, not able to get any words out. 

He was frozen on the spot. Peter’s face was unrecognizable with how pale and sickly it was. Tony slowly walked over to Peter’s face and stood behind his head on the bed. He carefully cupped both sides of his face and felt that he was so cold. 

It didn’t make any sense since he should still be burning up. His temperature was so high before and now Peter was cold to the touch. 

The tube was out of Peter’s mouth but Tony didn’t know if that was a good or bad thing. 

Tony lowered his face down over Peter’s and shut his eyes, silently begging for Peter to open his eyes and to be okay. 

He was aware of all the movement and voices going on around him but he paid no mind. He didn’t know where Bruce went but he knew the man was gone. 

“Mr. Stark,” One of the doctors said but Tony didn’t look up. “his condition is not getting any better. We have tried everything we can but we were unable to find out why he keeps deteriorating.” 

Tony looked up at the man. He didn’t recognize him. “Then try harder.” 

The doctor looked regretful. He hesitated before speaking. “I think it’s time you start saying your goodbyes. I’m so sorry. We have done everything we can but-” 

“Get the fuck out.” Tony whispered. He looked down at Peter and prayed that he didn’t have to say goodbye to Peter. He only just said hello to him. 

He wanted Peter to have a future. He didn’t deserve to get one week of pure love and freedom. Tony wanted him to have so much more. 

Tony wasn’t sure how long it was before Bruce was rushing into the room with a black bag. “I got it. Move. Everyone move.” 

Tony stood up straighter and wiped at the wetness on his cheeks. “Did you do it?” 

Bruce put his glasses on and placed the small black bag on top of Peter. He opened it up and grabbed a needle out with another vial then grabbed Peter’s arm and injected him with something. 

Tony didn’t know what it was but he trusted Bruce. 

“I analyzed the drug you gave me and diluted it into a less harmful and dependable substance that we can give him until he weans off it.” Bruce explained then looked over the monitor to Peter’s left. 

Tony didn’t want to get his hopes up but he hoped so badly that this would work and that it would be enough. “So-so it’ll work then? And he won’t need the other serum? This won’t happen again?” 

“It should work but we won’t know yet. As long as we continue to give him what I made, he will eventually wean off of it.” Bruce pulled his bag off of Peter and started writing stuff down in his notebook. 

Tony cupped Peter’s face gently and stroked his cheeks. “Wake up, Peter. C’mon. It’s all up to you now. Wake up.” 

It only took a matter of seconds before all the colour was brightening up in Peter’s face and his heart rate started to speed up to a normal speed. 

Tony smiled and tried to blink away the tears that were filling his eyes. “Hi buddy. Wake up, Pete.” 

Peter ever so slowly blinked his eyes awake and squinted at the brightness in the room. He tried to sit up but Tony weakly held him back down. 

“Hey, it’s okay. Peter, you’re safe.” Tony reassured him since he could see Peter start to freak out until his eyes landed on Tony and he relaxed and reached up to touch Tony’s face weakly. “Hi.” 

“‘Ony.” Peter whimpered due to his dry throat. 

“Hi buddy. You scared me. Do you remember anything?” Tony asked him but Peter’s eyes were moving to look at Bruce who was checking over his vitals. “Don’t worry. He’s my friend. That’s just Bruce.” 

Peter eyed Bruce up and down and let out a low whine. 

“Hello Peter. My name is Dr. Banner but you can call me Bruce if you’d like.” Bruce smiled warmly at him and pointed to one of the monitors. “You see this? This checks your heart rate. See?” 

Peter eyed the heart rate monitor and then pointed to his chest. “My heart?” 

Bruce smiled wider at him. “Yeah. You’re so smart.” 

Peter nodded his head and looked back over at Tony. “Thirsty ‘Ony.” 

“Yeah, I’ll get you some water.” Tony moved from Peter’s side and grabbed a bottle of water that was sitting on the side then he walked back over to Peter. 

“Apple juice, Tony?” Peter asked and looked up at him with wide eyes while Bruce adjusted the bed so he was sitting up right. 

Tony smiled and wiped at his face. He missed the kid so much. He hated seeing him so weak and fragile laying there on that bed. “Just have some water for now. I’ll get you all the apple juice you want later, okay?” 

Peter looked like he wanted to protest more but then he was reaching for the water bottle so Tony helped him drink it. 

The sight of Peter dropping down in front of him and blood pouring out from his nose and ears was going to be a sight that he wasn’t going to forget anytime soon and he was going to be seeing it again in his nightmares for the next few nights. 

Bruce walked over to Peter with a pen light and a clipboard. “Peter, can I check your eyes? I just want to do some checks first, if that’s okay with you.” 

Peter looked at Bruce and then back over at Tony. “Baby deer, Tony?” 

Tony brushed the curls from Peter’s face. The kid needed a bath. “Baby deer is at the hotel.” 

Peter frowned and stuck out his bottom lip. “We’s go get baby deer?” 

“No, Petey. Not right now because you were really sick so Bruce has to check your over now.” Tony explained to Peter but he could already tell that Peter was feeling a lot better since he was trying to get out of the bed. 

“Not sick. And baby deer hotel, Tony.” Peter’s face scrunched up as he threw his head back down on the bed and lifted up his arm that had a bunch of needles sticking out of it. “‘Dis not more. Said so, Tony.” 

Tony nodded his head. “I know I said that you wouldn’t have to do stuff like this anymore but you were so sick, Peter. Like, ten minutes ago so just lie down for a few minutes so the doctor can come in and help you and Bruce and look you over.” 

Peter didn’t say anything so Tony nodded at Bruce to do what he had to do. 

“I’m just gonna check your pupils, Peter. So open your eyes wide.” Bruce told him which Peter did but as soon as Bruce shined the light on him, Peter started reaching for the pen light. 

“I see.” Peter said and reached for it. Bruce gave it to him after he checked over his eyes. 

“How is he? Everything looks good?” Tony asked desperately. 

To Tony’s relief, Bruce nodded his head and checked over some more monitors. “I need another doctor to come in and double check some things but I’d say he’s perfect. He looks good and so do his vitals. Has his speech always been lacking? Just so I don’t have to check for signs of a stroke or anything.” 

“Yeah. He used to be worse but we're working on it.” Tony wanted to cry with happiness. He did cry with happiness because his kid was going to be okay. 

Another doctor walked into the room with a smile on her face. “I see that things are going well in here. Hello Peter. My name is Dr. Davis and I’m just going to make sure that everything is looking good inside your body.” 

Peter paused to stare at her. He watched her with big eyes and then looked down at his body and tried to pull the wires off of him. 

“Oh no, not yet, honey.” The doctor stopped him. “I have to check some things over first.” 

Peter shook his head. “No. I take off.” 

Tony grabbed Peter’s hands and clicked the pen again. “Look at this, Peter. Look how cool.” 

“I try.” Peter grabbed the light from Tony and started playing with it while the doctor checked over everything. 

Tony watched on anxiously. “How is he?” 

She looked extremely surprised while she spoke. “He’s good. Everything looks perfect. I don’t exactly have a medical reason for his fast recovery but I know you said something about his genetics being modified so that would definitely have something to do with his fast recovery.” 

“Yeah, Uh, he has spider DNA mixed in with him.” Tony explained to the doctor. “Can I take him out of the MedBay? Is everything fine?” 

She smiled at him warmly. “Yes you can. I’ll get everything off of him and get you two on your way.” 

Tony placed his head over Peter’s forehead again but this time he was thanking Peter for being okay and staying alive. 

Now he had to deal with Fury.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhh I hope that you guys liked that chapter! I loved writing it soooo much so I hope it was good! Tell me what you guys think :)


	18. We are sailing to the middle of the sea

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiiii guys!!! How ya everyone doing? I hope everyone is doing okkkk and if you’re not then you can rant to me to make yourself feel better because sometimes someone just needs to rant it all out and maybe cry a little or a lot

After Peter was unhooked from all the monitors, Tony could feel himself start to breathe again. 

He didn’t realize it before but this whole time it felt like he had been holding his breath, hoping for Peter to be okay, and now that he was, Tony could finally breathe. 

“Do you need me for anything else? I’m going to go to my lab to make some more substances to wean Peter off.” Bruce grabbed his black bag and asked Tony, eyes lingering over Peter. 

“No, thank you so much, Bruce. I mean it. I don’t even want to think about what would have happened if you weren’t here so thank you.” Tony looked into Bruce’s eyes to let Bruce know that he was being genuinely serious because Peter most likely wouldn’t have survived without him. 

Bruce looked down awkwardly. “Well, you did all the work. I just used what you gave me.” 

Peter was standing up on the bed and trying to shine the light in Tony’s eyes so Tony just nodded at Bruce then he left. He looked at Peter who was now at his height and smiled at him. “You’re crazy, Pete. Are you ready to go upstairs?” 

Peter leaned against Tony’s chest and held the pen light up again. “‘Dare up ‘dare too.” 

Tony didn’t know what Peter was saying but that wasn’t anything new. “You need to have a bath and get some food into you.” 

Peter nodded his head and went to pull up his shirt but he was wearing a hospital gown so he struggled a bit then gasped and looked back up at Tony. “Too big.” 

“Yeah, so we gotta get you changed.” Tony lifted Peter up and held him on his hip while he walked to the elevator. He thought back to the last time he carried Peter and how he was limp in his arms. Tony didn’t want to have to go through something like that again. 

“FRIDAY, make sure no one comes up to my floor.” 

“Yes, Boss.” 

Peter started looking up at the ceiling for the voice and then began kicking his way out of Tony’s arms but Tony didn’t want to let him go just yet. “Wait until we get into my bathroom, Peter.” 

Peter bent his back so he was reaching his arms out, practically upside down in Tony’s arms. 

Tony got out of the elevator and put Peter on the floor because he couldn’t carry Peter when he was bending in all angles. Tony watched Peter run off towards the kitchen while he went to see if some clothes came in one of the boxes that he ordered and haven’t gone through it yet. 

He opened a box and was relieved to see that it was full of clothes so he grabbed a shirt and track pants then stood up and looked over at Peter. “Come here, bud. We have to go change.” 

“In fridge.” Peter said to him then pulled the fridge door open. 

“Later. We have to go upstairs first.” Tony said again but he knew Peter wasn’t going to come so he walked over to him and grabbed his hand. “Let’s go upstairs to have a bath.” 

Peter walked alongside Tony with the pen still in his hand. “Bath with you?” 

“No.” Tony shut that thought down right away. “I’ll stay in the bathroom with you.” 

“Bubbles too?” Peter asked him and tried to swing from Tony’s arm so Tony let him, rolling his eyes fondly at the child’s behaviour. 

“Sorry, bud, but I have to get you some because there’s none here.” Tony said and thought about everything he had to get Peter. He then thought about whether or not he wanted to stay at the tower. 

Of course it was the safest place for him and Peter to stay and the only reason he didn’t stay here from the very beginning was because he wanted to keep Peter as far away from the Averages as possible but now that they knew, he would consider staying here with his kid. It made most sense now. 

Tony sat down at the edge of the bath and set it to the right temperature for it to fill up. He grabbed Peter’s ankle and pulled Peter towards himself from where he was sitting on the ground in front of him. “Let’s take this off you now.” 

Peter lifted his arms up for Tony to pull Peter’s hospital gown off of him. “Can you toss this in the garbage now?” 

Peter took the cloth from Tony and stood up to go toss it in the garbage. Tony watched him go to the right spot and throw it in and as simple as the action was, it just proved how far Peter had come in such a short amount of time. 

Bath time was quick but messy. Tony regretted putting Peter in the bath about halfway through and thought that he should have just put Peter in the shower but the smiling and giggling that he got out of it was all worth the soaking wet mess in the end. 

Tony knew that he had to go deal with Fury now and as much as he was dreading it and was pissed off that he had to leave Peter alone now, he wanted to get it over and done with so Fury could fuck off. 

“Later on, I will go get your baby deer but for now how about you sit and watch some tv?” Tony suggested and grabbed the remote and a throw blanket. 

Peter, dressed in a red shirt with grey track pants, walked over to the side of the bed with Tony and climbed on. “Baby deer coming soon?” 

Tony nodded, sitting down on the edge of the bed. “Later. Look, you can watch some cartoons because I have to go and talk to some people but I won't be long.” 

Peter frowned. “Tell no and stay.” 

Tony shook his head sadly. “I can’t, buddy. But I promise I’ll be up so soon and you can tell me what cartoon is your favourite, okay?” 

Peter scrunched up his face. “Tony stay with Peter.” 

“Oh bud. I can't but I’ll be back so soon. I promise you.” Tony stood up and turned the tv on. Immediately, Peter’s eyes lit up and were glued onto the tv screen. 

Tony couldn’t remember if he let Petet watch tv before but he doesn’t think that he has so he’s glad Peter likes it. Tony pressed a quick kiss to Peter’s head and left his bedroom, telling FRIDAY to let him know if Peter needs him or anything. 

On the way down to the floor where everyone was, Tony couldn’t help but start feeling anxious again. He had no idea what he was about to step into. 

Fury was walking up to him as soon as Tony exited the elevator. “I want to see him, Stark.” 

Tony passed Fury and walked over to the living room. “He’s off limits.” 

“No he’s not. He’s an asset, Stark. You are harbouring a fugitive and I can get you in a lot of trouble for that.” Fury stood right in front of Tony to try to intimidate him but it didn’t work. 

“He’s a child. If you want, arrest me. I’ll have you sent to the Raft myself and then I’d like to see how things go from there.” Tony shot back at the one eyed man. 

Fury stepped away to walk around the other side of the couch. “That kid up there was trained to be an assassin. He was raised by Hydra and he doesn’t know any better.” 

Tony chuckled. “Well we have an assassin right there,” Tony pointed to Natasha and looked around the room for their new comer. “and we just gained another one an hour ago.” 

“Barnes is being detained until further notice.” Fury stated. “I want the kid and I want everything you know on him, since you’ve been holding him from us for over a week and lied about it.” 

“That kid upstairs is seven years old. He’s not dangerous. I’d know that better than anyone.” Tony felt his blood start to boil. He wanted to smack Fury. “I kept him hidden from all of you because I knew that you would try to use him for information. He’s not an asset.” 

Fury grumbled and walked back over to Tony. “That’s exactly what he is to us. Hand him over. I will get all the information I need out of him and then he will be homed elsewhere.” 

“He’s not going anywhere.” Tony said with conviction. 

Fury narrowed his eyes at him. “I will not ask again, Stark. That subject is dangerous and you’re lucky he hasn’t killed you yet.” 

“Subject?” Tony asked, infuriated. “He’s a kid. A human being that was taken advantage of and abused his whole life with no say in the matter. You’re trying to take him and treat him the exact same way that Hydra did.” 

Fury was silent for a few seconds before speaking. “The kid is dangerous. He needs to be placed and dealt with accordingly.” 

Tony scuffed. “And you say Hydra is the enemy. Get the fuck out of my tower, Fury. I don’t want to hear you ever ask for that kid again.” 

Fury didn’t make any move to leave so Natasha stood up from where she was sitting on the couch and watching the whole thing. No one else was in the room which Tony was now thankful for. 

“Fury,” Natasha said. “Tony is right. We read his files and I met the kid. He wasn’t going to start training until he turned eight and he doesn’t know anything important. Nothing that can help us.” 

Fury looked away from Tony and at Natasha. “I want the file and I want to meet him.” 

Tony bud in. “I’ll send you his file but you’re not going anywhere near him. I won’t even show you a picture of him.” 

Fury thought about it for a few seconds before giving a sharp nod and walking closer to Tony. “Alright. Send me the file and I’ll be out of your hair. But mark my word, Stark, that kid is going to cause a lot more problems in the future and my guess is that it’s going to be sooner than later.” 

Tony furrowed his eyebrows and looked into Fury’s eyes. “How can you say that when you know absolutely nothing about him. You’re only saying that to gain something out of this.” 

Fury didn’t say anything but Tony didn’t care. He got the last word in and he saw that they were done here so he left and went back upstairs to his floor in an awful mood. 

He knew Peter. 

He’s known him for over a week now and he knows that the kid would never hurt him. Peter had put himself in front of Tony multiple times now and if that didn’t show Tony that Peter would never hurt him then he didn’t know what would. 

Tony walked up the stairs and into his bedroom. At first he didn’t see Peter on the bed and his heart sped up but when he looked up, he saw Peter sitting on the ceiling above the bed. “Hey bud.” 

Peter beamed. “Tony! You back for me.” Peter fell down on the bed and walked across it to Tony. “And you so sad.” 

Tony smiled weakly and shook his head. “No, bud. I was a little mad before but not anymore because I know that you’re safe. And that’s all that matters.” 

Peter nodded his head. “And Tony safe?” 

“Yes. I am, bud. We both are.” Tony told him and lifted Peter up then sat down so he could hold Peter on his lap but Peter was squirming away and back onto the bed. “Are you hungry? Do you want to eat something?” 

Peter lifted up his shirt to rub his belly. Tony hoped that he never grew out of that gesture. “Yeah. Baby deer too.” 

“Well we’re going to have to get baby deer soon but let’s get some food in you first.” 

Tony and Peter headed downstairs with Peter chatting away with nothing in particular. Tony got some food ready for Peter while he listened to him talk away and while he thought about his conversation with Fury. 

He felt sick just thinking about the fact that Fury wanted to take Peter, use him for information and then throw him away as if he wasn’t a little boy but rather a piece of garbage. 

He wanted to take Peter and run so he could keep him safe but he knew that a routine was important for Peter right now. It was important for them to stay in the same house and not move somewhere new every week. 

“Boss,” FRIDAY said, interrupting Peter and pulling Tony from his thoughts. “Ms. Romanoff would like to speak with you.” 

Tony groaned. “Tell her no.” 

“I am afraid that she is insisting.” 

“Well tell her I’m busy with Peter.” Tony tossed the dish rag into the sink because why couldn’t everyone just leave him alone. 

“She says that she will be quick.” FRIDAY said and Tony knew she wouldn’t stop so he groaned again and placed a plate of grilled cheese and fruits in front of Peter. 

“Fine. Tell her I’ll be down in five minutes.” Tony said then rubbed his eyes and looked sadly at Peter. He didn’t want to leave him again. “Hey, bud. You eat your lunch and then go upstairs and watch some tv, or you can watch some tv in the living room after you’re done but I have to go again. I’ll be so fast.” 

Peter was squishing his grilled cheese on the counter then licked the grease off his hands. “Then come back.” 

Tony nodded. “Yes. So you be good. I’ll be right back.” 

Tony felt like he was wrong for leaving Peter again especially after what just happened to him but it was necessary if he wanted everyone to leave him alone. 

He walked into the elevator and went back down to the floor he was just in but this time it was just Natasha there. Tony made a beeline for the coffee machine. “So eye patch left, huh?” 

Natasha walked into the kitchen and leaned against the counter. “Right after you left about twenty minutes ago.” 

Tony just nodded his head and waited for Natasha to continue talking and explain the reason why she called him down there. 

“Fury isn’t going to stop until he gets what he wants.” Natasha started and that had Tony’s attention. “And what he wants is Peter so what I want to know is if you truly want this?” 

Tony turned to look at her. “Want what?” 

She rolled her eyes. “Peter. Your life with him.” 

“Yes. Of course I do. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t.” Tony had never been so sure about anything in his life before. Everything just felt so right with Peter. 

She nodded, having expected that answer. “So you know that it’s going to be hard. This isn’t a normal child. He has needs that you are going to have to learn to live with. You’re going to have to basically raise him right from the start even though he’s already seven years old.” 

Tony picked his finished coffee up and leaned against the counter, opposite her. “What are you saying? Of course I know all of that? I’m already prepared to teach him everything he has to know.” 

“I’m saying that I’m trying to help you. Fury isn’t going to stop until he gets Peter and so if you’re sure that this is what you want, I’m going to help you keep him as far away from Fury as possible.” She explained to him, giving him a few moments to process everything. 

“Oh. Well I have to admit, I wasn’t expecting to come down and hear that but thanks.” Tony was extremely grateful for that. If he was about to start a fight with Fury, he was glad he had Natasha on his team. 

“Yeah. That’s all.” 

“Okay then. Thanks for that.” Tony smiled at her and then left to go back upstairs to his floor and join Peter in watching his cartoons. 

He wasn’t surprised that Fury wanted Peter so badly but what did surprise Tony was how he could stoop so low as to try and get information out of a child. That made him lose all respect for Fury. 

When Tony walked out of the elevator and onto his floor, he first walked over to the kitchen but he didn’t see Peter there so he turned and walked over to the living room where Peter brought over his food. Tony couldn’t find Peter there and he only ate half of his food. 

“Peter?” Tony asked and walked around the couch but still no Peter. He knew that that meant that Peter went upstairs into his bedroom but he didn’t know why Peter went there before he ate all of his food. 

Tony walked upstairs and into his bedroom but he found that it was empty. “Peter? Where are you, bud?” 

Tony checked in the bathroom and on the ceiling but Peter still wasn’t there and that when Tony started to freak out. “FRIDAY, where is Peter?” 

“Fury came up to take Peter after you went to talk to Ms. Romanoff.” FRIDAY told him and Tony ran out of the room. 

“Fuck. I told you that no one is allowed on my floor! Why did you let him take Peter?!” Tony yelled, completely furious that Fury came onto his floor and took his kid. 

“Director Fury overrided my protocol.” FRIDAY explained as Tony ran down the stairs and into the elevator. 

“I took his access away!” Tony yelled and stopped in the elevator. “Where did he take Peter?!” 

“Fury and Peter are on floor fifty-six.” FRIDAY said as the elevator started moving, taking Tony down. 

Tony clenched his jaw. That bastard brought Peter down to the floor where they did their mission briefings on as well as interrogations with captives. 

The elevator doors opened and Tony rushed out. He speed walked over to one of the closed off rooms and saw Fury standing in the room behind the one way glass. Tony went to open the door but it was locked. 

“FRIDAY.” Tony said and could see Fury looking at him in the room with a defeated look on his face. 

“On it.” FRIDAY said and then there was a clicking sound and the door being opened. 

Tony walked into the room and looked through the glass. His heart fell when he saw Peter sitting in the room. Peter was sitting on a chair with his hands on the desk and a piece of paper. 

Tony then looked back at Fury. “You’re lucky I don’t kill you right now just for looking at him.” 

Fury crossed his arms and shook his head. “I got to be honest, Stark, I thought I was going to have a little more time with him. I’m a bit disappointed.” 

“You just keep taking and taking. I gave you his fucking file!” Tony yelled. He couldn’t contain his anger anymore. “What more could you possibly want?!” 

Fury gestured towards Peter behind the glass. “I told you I wanted the kid.” 

“And I told you, you couldn’t have him.” Tony tried to open the door into the room but it was locked so without even thinking about it, Tony raised his arm out after activating his wrist gauntlet. “Open the fucking door.” 

Fury looked scared but quickly regained his composure. “I can’t do that yet, Stark. I have questions and he has answers.” 

“He’s seven year old!” Tony yelled and took a step closer to Fury with his arm raised and aimed. “You’re living with one eye, how would you like to live with one arm? Because I can make that happen. Open the door.” 

Fury hesitated. “Put your arm down, Stark. I’m not going to-” 

Tony didn’t let Fury finish. He gave him a chance. He didn’t rip Fury’s arm off even though he really wanted to in that moment. Tony just sent a blast to knock Fury off his feet then Tony did the same with the door and kicked it open. 

Peter had his legs pulled to his chest and was looking at the door through his eyelashes. Tony hated seeing Peter so scared. He was trying to help Peter recover from the past seven years of his life and then Fury had to come in and ruin everything. 

Peter’s eyes lit up when he saw Tony but then he was making desperate grabby hands for him. Tony didn’t hesitate to lift Peter into his arms and hold him. “It’s okay. I’m sorry, Peter. I shouldn’t have left you. I’m so sorry.” 

The seven year old buried his face into Tony’s neck and wrapped his arms around his neck. 

“What’s going on?” Tony looked at the door to see Natasha standing there and looking confused. 

Tony straightened up and glared at her. “Did you know?” 

“Did I know what?” She looked at Peter in Tony’s arms and asked. 

“Don’t lie to me. Did you know that Fury was going to take Peter? Is that why you had me come down to talk to you?” Tony asked her and walked out of the room so he was standing in front of Natasha. 

“What? No. I told you, I’m on your side, Tony.” Natasha walked over to Fury and bent down to help him sit up. 

Tony would have aimed his repulser at Natasha if he found out that she tricked him. He was glad that he didn’t have to do that. Tony walked back to the elevator and pressed the button to take him back up to his floor. 

“FRIDAY, take away everyone’s access to my floor but mine. I don’t want anyone coming up. No matter what.” Tony was failing at this because he kept letting Peter get hurt but now he knew better. 

He wouldn’t let that happen ever again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today was so stressful omg. I swear the job interview that I had had a hidden camera because of the ridiculousness that was going on, I actually looked around for a camera omg it was so funny but in a bad way ahhh and idk how to feel about the interview. It happened and it’s not wgat I want but I don’t have many options. On a happy note, I quit my job today:) it was so stressful and I cried because they were being so rude to me and telling me they told me I was going to be cleaning 8 hours a day but they fucking did bit otherwise I wouldn’t have taken the fucking job! 
> 
> Anyways! It’s over now! I also mailed off something for hopefully future school idkkkkk bout that tho


	19. Maybe, in the end, we’ll be okay

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiiiii guys!!!! Second last chapter omg

The next day Tony woke up to Peter’s face pressed up right against his face. 

He sat up and squinted at the sun coming in through the blinds that he forgot to close. Him and Peter had spent the rest of yesterday on the couch watching tv. 

Tony tried to listen to Peter chatting away and he was grateful that Peter bounced back pretty quickly after basically being kidnapped but Tony didn’t bounce back. 

For the rest of the day, he was on edge and feeling incredibly paranoid. 

Now however, he is feeling a lot better but Tony had to decide whether or not he wanted to stay at the tower or find somewhere else to live. Tony knew that living in a hotel wasn’t going to work anymore. It wasn’t safe or practical for them. 

He also didn’t know if the house in the woods was going to be safe and practical for them. Peter seemed to like it there and Tony would be lying if he said he didn’t like it there. It was nice but it was temporary. 

The tower provided safety for them. Tony knew since now the Avengers and Fury knew about Peter, there was no real reason for them not to stay at the tower. 

He could turn one of the spare bedrooms that no one ever slept in, into a bedroom for Peter. They could paint it and decorate it themselves. Tony knew that would help Peter feel more at home but something still felt like it was missing but Tony didn’t know what that was. 

He got out of bed and got ready in the bathroom then walked back into the bedroom and found Peter sitting up in bed with his hair a mess and a grin on his face. “Good morning. Did you sleep good, Pete?” 

Peter nodded his head and pulled the book onto his lap that Tony was reading to him last night. “Read again, Tony.” 

Tony smirked but shook his head. “We have to go eat breakfast first and then I’ll read as many books to you as you want. Does that sound like fun?” 

Peter grinned and nodded his head and then they were off to do that. 

At around lunch time, Tony was sitting on the living room carpet with Peter when FRIDAY spoke up. “Boss, Mr. Rogers is requesting access to your floor. He is asking if Bucky can come up to see young Peter?” 

Tony looked down at Peter who was playing with his books and skimming over the words. He knew that without Bucky, as much as he hated to admit it, Peter would be dead. 

He owed it to Bucky to let him see Peter. “Tell them that they can come up but just them.” 

A minute later, the elevator doors were opening and the two super soldiers were walking out. Peter lifted his head up and immediately threw himself down onto Tony’s lap once he saw Bucky. 

Tony rubbed his back to try and calm him down but he didn’t blame Peter for freaking out. “It’s okay, Peter. This is Steve and Bucky. Remember when you got really sick? Well, Bucky helped me to save you and make you feel all better.” 

Peter peeked an eye out at the two men then looked at Tony. “Safe?” 

“I promise.” Tony smiled when Peter held up his pinky finger between the two, Tony wrapped his much larger one around Peter’s smaller one, remembering a time when they made their first pinky promise. 

With that, Peter slid off of Tony’s lap and went back to looking at his books. Steve looked at Tony for reassurance then sat down on his knees with Bucky following. 

“Hi Peter. My name is Steve.” Steve introduced himself so Peter looked up at him and pushed a book over to him. 

“Read it.” Peter said, scooting closer to Steve so he was sitting next to him but not touching him. Steve took the book and opened it up to the first page. 

“You know who really likes reading?” Steve asked and Peter’s eyes went wide with curiosity. “My friend Bucky. Can he read to you?” 

Peter looked over at Bucky and then at Tony. He then grabbed the book from Steve and sat next to Bucky with his book. “You read it.” 

“What do we say, Peter?” Tony asked since he wanted Peter to get the hang of his manners. 

“Please.” Peter forced out and put his hand on top of Bucky’s knee. “Please read it.” 

“Okay Peter. Is this your favourite book?” Bucky asked as he ran his hand over the front cover. 

Peter frowned and shook his head. “No. Mommy deer and baby deer.” 

Tony took his eyes off of Peter and Bucky and looked at Steve. “Thanks again for helping me.” 

Steve nodded. “Thanks for getting Buck back.” 

“Did you get everything sorted with him? He uh, he can stay here. If that’s what you guys want.” Tony would take a long time to trust Bucky, if he ever would but at the end of the day, he had Bucky to thank for gaining Peter in his life. 

Steve looked at him. “Thank you, Tony. He uh, he’s all checked out. Sam and I talked with him and ran some tests so everything is okay.” 

Tony nodded and turned back to look at Peter. He had one blue sock on and one red sock on. Tony watched him sit with his legs stretched out in front of him. He was wiggling his toes back and forth and as simple as the action was, it brought a smile on Tony’s face. 

Steve was watching Tony watch Peter the whole time. “Are you going to adopt him?” 

The smile fell from Tony’s face as he quickly turned his head to look at Steve. “W-what?” 

“Are you going to adopt him?” Steve asked again. “I heard you call him your kid the other day. Plus the way you talk about him and how much you so obviously care about him. Also the way you were just looking at him. I’m just wondering.” 

Tony felt like his eyes had been opened up. He hadn’t thought about it before but the thought just sounded so right. 

“He doesn’t have anyone else, does he?” Steve asked after Tony stayed silent. 

“Uh,” Tony wracked his brain for words. “Uh, no. No he doesn’t.” 

Tony thought about adopting Peter. That would make Peter his kid. He knew that he already thought about Peter as his kid and he has said it out loud more than once, as Steve pointed out, but actually adopting Peter would make it real. It would make Peter his child. His son. 

Tony liked the sound of that. He thought that it fit perfectly. Peter would be his child. His son. 

That also meant that a lot more responsibility had to come with that. Tony knew that eventually when Peter got older, he would have to get him into a school. He would be taking Peter on play dates and trips to the park as well as teaching him how to ride a bike and tie his shoes. 

All of that still seemed so far away since Peter still had to get his butt wiped after he went to the bathroom. Tony knew it would all come with time. 

“Alright,” Steve slapped his knees and stood up after Bucky was done reading the book to Peter. “we’ll leave you guys to it. Buck and I have to do a few things anyways.” 

Peter paused from where he was grabbing another book from the pile but he stopped once he saw that Bucky was leaving. “Read please?” 

“Bucky has to go now, Peter, but I have a feeling that you’ll see him again soon.” Tony said and held his arm out for Peter to come to him. 

Peter put the book down and went to go sit on Tony’s leg. “I want to show you something upstairs.” 

“Yeah!” Peter got off of Tony and jumped up, pulling Tony up with him. 

Tony took Peter’s hand and walked upstairs with him then opened up a bedroom door that was across from his bedroom. He stepped into the room that was empty besides for a bed in the middle of the room. 

Tony kneeled down so he was at Peter’s height. “How would you like for this to be your bedroom?” 

Peter brought his fingers up to his mouth to suck on them in thought but Tony pulled his hand away from his mouth and held his hand instead. “My room for little bit?” 

“No, bud. Your room forever.” Tony smiled. 

Peter tilted his head in confusion. “Forever?” 

“Yeah. Do you want to live with me forever? You don’t ever have to go back to Hydra and you can be happy and eat Cheerios all day if you want.” Tony explained to him and felt his eyes starting to water but he didn’t know why he was getting so emotional. “You can be free now, Peter.” 

At that, Peter started nodding his head aggressively and jumping up and down. “Yeah! And I live with Tony for forever!” 

“Yeah, buddy. Forever and ever.” Tony smiled widely as he pulled Peter in for a hug. He knew Peter wouldn’t understand what adoption meant. He also wanted Peter to have a choice in what happens with him. 

If for whatever reason Peter didn’t want to live with him forever, Tony wouldn’t adopt him. But that wasn’t the case. 

Tony let go of Peter and let him walk around the room. There wasn’t much in the room but that was what made it so much fun. The two of them would get to decorate the bedroom together. 

Tony stood up and leaned against the doorway. “We’ll have to order a bunch of stuff for your new room. We can paint in together. Any colour you want. And we can pick out a bed and dresser and stuff.” 

Peter jumped over to Tony and looked up at him desperately. “And Baby deer and blankie, Tony. He not here.” 

Tony smiled fondly at his kid. Yeah, his kid. “Okay. I’ll have him here by tonight.” Tony poked Peter on the nose. “I promise.” 

“Thank you.” Peter walked away from him and climbed up on the bed to test it out. Tony knew that Peter would be okay with just the bed in the room but he wanted Peter to have so much more than that. 

.  
.  
.

Later that night, Tony was lying on his bed with a freshly bathed Peter tucked under his arm with Peter’s baby deer and his blankie tucked under his arm. 

Tony had called the hotel and had them send everything in their hotel room to the tower. Peter was so happy to finally have his beloved stuffed animal and blanket in his arms again. 

Now, they were cuddled together on the bed with a cartoon playing on low volume in the background. It was pouring rain outside so it was extra cozy inside the tower and Peter was cuddling up to Tony a little closer every time a loud thunder would go off. 

The room was dark with the only light coming from the tv, lamp and the StarkPad lying between the two. 

“Do you want this one?” Tony asked Peter, pointing to a bookshelf. 

Peter nodded his head and hit the add to cart. Tony smiled at the giggle that escaped Peter’s mouth once the tablet made the sound that Peter loved so much. 

“You have to pick a dresser too, Pete. Do you like this one?” Tony pointed to a dresser on the screen and after a few seconds of looking it over, Peter shook his head and scrolled down just like how he saw Tony doing it. 

Tony watched him for a few minutes until he stopped at a dresser and added it to the cart. Tony couldn’t stop himself from smiling at how quickly Peter picked up on it and how he was taking control of things. 

Tony loved that. 

“What colour do you think you’re gonna want for your new room?” Tony asked him, moving his hand down to rub his hand over Peter’s exposed belly. Peter placed his smaller hands over Tony’s and thought about the question that Tony already knew the answer to. 

“Red.” Peter said, confirming that Tony was right. 

“Red, huh? A bit odd but it suits you.” Tony leaned his head down to press a gentle kiss to Peter’s temple. 

They finished ordering more things for Peter’s bedroom such as the bed, bedding, curtains, some more toys and a carpet. Tony would later order more of the boring essentials that Peter would need when he had free time next. 

The two of them put the StarkPad away and started watching the cartoon until Peter would soon fall asleep. 

Peter had his head lying on Tony’s chest and sucking on his thumb that Tony had to continue taking from Peter’s mouth, only for it to go right back in. 

He knew that that was going to be a hard habit to break and he was going to have to look up ways to help Peter stop later on. 

Peter pointed to the tv. “That little bear with his daddy bear.” 

Tony hummed. They were on their second episode of this show called Little Bear and in this episode, little bear was trying to fly to the moon with some scarecrow friends in the middle of the night. It was relaxing to watch. 

“Little bear has daddy bear, Tony.” Peter said and made a sound of annoyance. 

Tony looked down to see that Peter was sticking out his bottom lip in a pout. Tony continued on messaging the back of his head. It was comforting for himself more than anything. “Yeah, he does.” 

Peter made another sound of annoyance but didn’t say anything for a couple of minutes. When he spoke again, he sounded sad. “I don’ have daddy bear. And deer has mommy deer but Peter has nothin’.” 

Tony’s hand stilled. That hurt to hear because it was true in a sense. Peter lost so much before he was even old enough to know what it was like to have it. 

Peter pushed himself off of Tony’s chest and looked at him. “Tony’s gonna be Peter’s daddy now?” 

Tony felt his breath hitch. “I…” Tony didn’t know what to say. His first reaction was that he wanted to say no and push Peter away but that thought left very quickly. 

He thought about it, like he had been doing for a few days now, he could be Peter’s dad. He liked that thought of Peter calling him daddy. It was cute and innocent and he never thought he would have a kid say that to him but it fit and he kinda loved it. 

He was nodding his head because all of the sudden words were very hard to use. “Y-yeah, Peter. I’m your daddy. If, I mean if that’s what you want, bubs?” 

Peter was nodding his head with a straight face. “Uh huh. Now baby deer has mama and baby bear has daddy bear and Peter has a daddy.” 

Tony felt just eyes burning again. This kid. His kid. “Yeah, Pete. That’s right. I promised you I’ll always be here for you and pinky promises can never be broken.” 

Peter gave a sharp nod and put his head back down on Tony’s chest to continue watching the show. Tony’s attention wasn’t on the show anymore but on Peter now. 

His son.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Omg guys!!!! I hope you all liked that. Can you believe that there is one more chapter left omg omg omg!!!! Also it’s peter Parker’s birthday today ahhhhh!!!! He would be eight years old if it were that date in this fic right now:)))) so cute 
> 
> The show that I was talking about is called little bear. I used to love it as a kid and if you don’t want to look it up or know what it is, I’ll show you: 
> 
> https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMjkwMDI4YzctMDhjMy00Njg3LTk4NTktMTBkNGQ0YmYxN2FlXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyODk1MjAxNzQ@._V1_.jpg


	20. Right where you were always supposed to be

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhhh guys!!!! The last chapter omg omg omg how is it already the last chapter ahhh I hope you guys like it:) see you at the end

A week had passed since their talk on the bed that night and ever since then, the only word that had been coming out of Peter’s mouth was daddy. 

It was always daddy this and daddy that and Tony loved it so much. He hoped that he never got over that feeling it gave him whenever Peter called him that. 

It was so pure and innocent and Tony was in love with it. 

The orders for the bedroom had come in so Tony was laying plastic on Peter’s bedroom floor so no paint got there as well as using the green tape to tape up the walls. 

Peter walked into the bedroom and sat down on Tony’s feet. “You left me, daddy.” 

Tony’s heart melted again at Peter calling him that. He rubbed Peter’s head then went back to what he was doing. “I’m sorry, baby. We’re gonna paint your bedroom soon.” 

Tony looked down at Peter who was occupying his foot and holding a book in his hands. “Good pronunciation, bud. I’m so proud of you.” 

“Thank you, daddy.” Peter smiled. 

Tony was so proud of Peter. In such a short amount of time his speech had gotten so much better. Tony would sit down with him every day and go over some words, little by little. 

They were currently working on past tense and present tense. Tony learned that he had to constantly correct Peter whenever he said a word wrong because that was the only way he would learn. So now Peter was stressing the new words that he was learning more to show Tony that he knew it. 

Tony was so freaking proud of him. 

“Grab the paint roller because we’re gonna paint your new bedroom.” Tony pointed to one of the paint rollers on the side. 

Peter reached for one as Tony poured the paint into the bin. He looked up and saw Peter handing him the other paint roller and Tony cooed softly. Where Peter learned his generosity from was beyond him. 

The two of them started to paint the walls but they didn’t get very far at all. Peter had accidentally dropped his roller in the bucket which caused red paint to splatter all over the previously white walls and it wasn’t a pretty scene at all. 

It would definitely be turning a few cops’ eyes.

Peter looked up at Tony with wide eyes. “Uh oh. I drop it.” 

“That’s okay, bud. But you dropped it.” Tony corrected him, just like he had been doing for the past few days now. 

Peter nodded his head and squatted down to pick up his roller but he got distracted in the paint and put his hand in it. Tony watched him as Peter slowly lifted up his hand, grinned and placed his hand on the wide baseboard. He then looked up at Tony with a huge smile on his face. 

“Now you do it, daddy.” Peter said innocently. 

Tony’s first reaction was to laugh and say no but then he thought about it. Life wasn’t meant to be so perfect, it wouldn’t hurt anyone if they kept both of their hand prints up on the baseboard of Peter’s bedroom. 

“Alright. I’ll do it for you.” Tony kneeled down to stick his hand into the paint and then on the wall, right next to Peter’s smaller print. “Peter and daddy.” 

Peter started giggling and clapping his hands, spreading the paint onto the other hand. “Yay! Daddy and Peter forever.” 

“For ever and ever, bud.” Tony promised him. As long as he was living, Peter would forever be his little boy. 

The two of them spent the next three hours painting the bedroom, taking a long lunch break and then finishing up with building all of Peter’s furniture for his bedroom. 

It was fun, just the two of them. 

Tony realized how good Peter was with his hands and how he built his own nightstand table by himself, with just a little help from Tony to put the drawers in. Tony couldn’t have been more proud of Peter. 

It was just before dinner by the time they finished. 

Since Peter’s stomach was better adjusted to the foods that he could eat, not fully 100% yet but it was a huge difference from what he could eat a week ago, so Tony ordered a pizza and decided to eat in Peter’s brand new bedroom. 

He took a giant bite of his pizza and looked over at Peter who was carefully picking apart his cheese. “How do you like your new bedroom?” 

Peter looked up at him and nodded. “Yeah. I like it. It’s pretty.” 

Tony smirked. “It is very pretty, isn’t it? Do you think you wanna sleep in your big boy bed tonight?” 

Peter frowned. He glanced up at Tony and then over at his bed before shaking his head and moving closer to Tony. “No. I’ll sleep with daddy.” 

Tony chuckled. “Okay. Just until you feel ready.” Tony expected Peter to still want to sleep with him. He had been doing it since the very beginning practically. At this point but was more of a comfort for the both of them to have each other close. 

Peter started licking the sauce off his pizza, effectively getting it all over his face. 

Tony took his eyes away from Peter to look around the room at their accomplishment. “We make a pretty good team, don’t you think?” 

Peter looked over at Tony then smiled. “Yeah. I think so.” 

Reaching over to ruffle Peter’s curls, Tony joked, “You silly don’t even know what I’m talking about. You’re too involved with your pizza.” 

If there was one thing that Tony learned in the past week was that Peter loved pizza and loved to watch his cartoons. Specifically Little Bear. 

Tony liked both things as well. Mostly because he loved watching Peter enjoy both things but also because it was when they were watching Little Bear was when Peter first called him daddy. 

He took another bite of his pizza and looked at the bedroom again. He loved the way it turned out and the two of them put the room together really fast. Peter even had a huge say in everything which Tony loved. 

He loved watching Peter learn that he too had a voice and it was very powerful when he wanted it to be. 

Peter had told him that he wanted his book center by the window instead of by the closet where Tony was originally going to put it. It looked a lot better by the window. 

Peter followed Tony’s eyes over to his book center and stood up. “Will yous read um… the-um,” Peter looked at Tony for help but Tony just nodded to encourage him to keep on trying. “Um, Rev-rel…” Peter sighed and looked to Tony for help. 

“The Velveteen Rabbit?” Tony supplied for him because he knew what Peter was asking for and it was a big word. 

A smile spread across Peter’s face. “Yes! The Vel… Rabbit!” 

Tony chuckled at Peter’s pronunciation. “I’ll read it to you tonight. Just because you asked me so many times so tonight’s the night.” 

With a content nod, Peter sat himself down on the carpet to finish his pizza. 

Tony knew that Peter would eventually sleep in his own bedroom but it would take time and he was willing to be patient no matter how much time it took. He knew that the more Peter played with all of his new toys in his bedroom then he would eventually become familiar and comfortable with it and then want to sleep in there. 

It will all take time. 

As Peter ate his pizza, Tony thought about the serum that Bruce had made for Peter. Today was their last day needing it and Tony was more than relieved. 

He was still keeping a close eye on Peter just in case but he knew that things were going to be okay.

.  
.  
.

Tony checked the time for the third time in thirty minutes. 

He was excited since he had a plan to teach Peter how to get dressed by himself and start using the bathroom himself. Tony didn’t mind helping Peter since he knew he had no other choice since Peter didn’t know how but Peter was seven years old and it was about time that he learned how to do certain things by himself. 

Tony walked into his bedroom with Peter’s pyjamas in his hands and decided to start with the shower. “Are you ready for bed soon, Peter?” 

Peter looked up at Tony and then went back to the book that he was attempting to read. “Not yet.” 

Tony walked into the bathroom to put his pyjamas there and get everything ready for his shower. “You have one more minute and then you have to get ready for bed.” 

“And then bed.” Peter repeated while nodding his head. 

Tony sat on the bed and looked over at what Peter was doing. He loved how Peter loved his books so much. At any point of the day, Peter has a book in his hands or a few feet from him. He would read his books while watching tv at the same time. 

It impressed Tony how quickly Peter was picking up on everything, it just proved how smart Peter is. 

“Okay, Pete,” Tony got off the bed and held his hand out for Peter’s book. “it’s time to get ready for bed now.” 

“Time for a shower.” Peter said as he closed the book and placed it on his pillow for later like he always did. 

He slid off the bed and followed Tony into the bathroom, standing in front of Tony and lifting his arms up for Tony to take his shirt off. 

Tony sat on the bathtub step and gestured for Peter to take his shirt off himself. “You do it, bud. I know you know how.” 

Peter lowered his arms and frowned. “I don’t. Do it, daddy. Please?” 

Tony grabbed the bottom of Peter’s shirt for him to get started. “You can do it by yourself, bud. I can’t help you all the time.” 

“But just sometimes?” Peter raised his eyebrows at his dad. 

Chuckling, Tony shook his head but then shrugged. He knew there would be times he helped Peter with things like this but it was important for Peter to know how to do it all by himself. “Maybe sometimes but right now, I want you to do it by yourself.” 

Peter thought about it for a few seconds before he began pulling on his shirt and grunting in annoyance when it didn’t come off right away. “Help. Help me.” 

Tony waited a few seconds to see if Peter would get it by himself but when he didn’t, Tony pulled the bottom over his head but Peter did most of the work and Tony was extremely proud of him for that. 

“There you go. Good job, Pete. I’m so proud of you.” Tony ruffled his chocolate brown curls and smiled at his son. 

Peter grinned. “I did it!” Happy with himself, Peter pulled down his pants and got those off on his own. “Look! By myself too!” 

“Woah! Look at you go.” Tony was so freaking proud of Peter and his accomplishments. He knew that any other child Peter’s age would already have learned how to do these things on their own with little help from parents but other children Peter’s age weren’t raised at Hydra and could climb on walls. 

Tony stood up to turn the shower on and set it to the right temperature then looked back at Peter who was bouncing with excitement to get in. He stepped aside to let Peter know that he could go in and sat back down on the bathtub step. 

It still amazed Tony just how much Peter loves his baths and showers. It pained Tony to know the reason why that was, since Peter had to be washed with a cold bucket of water barely once a week. 

Never again. 

After Tony let Peter play in the water for a few minutes and get his hair and body wet, Tony grabbed the shampoo off the rack and called Peter over. “Come, Pete. It’s time to wash your hair.” 

Peter walked over to him like he always did during shower time so Tony could wash his hair but this time, Tony held the bottle of shampoo out for him. “Hold your hands out.” 

Peter did as he was told but looked at Tony curiously. Tony poured the shampoo onto his hands as he explained to him, “Rub that all in your hair to make it all bubbly and foamy and then you get to rinse it out.” 

The seven year old looked at Tony confused but lifted his arms up to splat the shampoo onto his head. “You do it?” 

“No, I know you can. Just go like this,” Tony made fake shampooing motions with his hands for Peter to copy which he did but it wasn’t cleaning his hair properly. “You have to do it all over the place, Pete.” 

Peter frowned and shook his head, stepping closer to Tony. “You do it, daddy. S’too hard for me. Your hands are bigger.” Peter held up his tiny hands to show Tony then reached for his adoptive fathers hands, guiding them up to his hair. 

“Aw, Pete. How are you so cute.” Tony didn’t understand what he did to end up with such an innocent and precious human being. He would be forever grateful for his son. 

In the end, Tony had to help Peter wash his hair but it would all come with time. Tony wasn’t worried about Peter and his late development at all because he knew they weren’t in any rush with anything. 

After Peter’s shower, he ran back into the bedroom to grab his book with his towel wrapped around his shoulders but Tony followed him out with his pyjamas in his hand. “You forgot about one thing.” 

Peter looked up at what his dad had in his hands but shook his head. “No pyjamas tonight please.” 

Tony chuckled and threw the pyjamas onto the end of the bed. “Pyjamas every night. But I like your manners.” 

He grabbed Peter’s ankles and pulled him down on the bed, towards himself and loving hearing Peter’s giggles. “No daddy. No pyjamas.” 

“Sorry but you have to.” Tony ignored Peter’s giggled protest as he sat Peter up and handed his pyjama top to him. “I want you to try putting this on by yourself.” 

Peter’s giggling stopped. He crossed his arms and shook his head at Tony. “No. You do it.” 

Tony sighed. “I want you to try because you’re a big boy. You’re seven years old and in just a few months, you’ll be eight and eight year olds get dressed by themselves.” 

Peter looked at the pyjamas like they had personally offended him. “Not at old place. Didn’t do it there.” 

Tony knew Peter was talking about Hydra and he hated that Peter was comparing his old life to his new life like that. “Well you don’t live there anymore and you never will again.” 

Peter let out a puff of air. “... you do it, daddy. Please?”

Tony sighed again. He didn’t expect to win every time but he would work on teaching Peter with time. 

After Peter was dressed in his pyjamas and tucked into bed, Tony laid down next to him with just the lamp bringing light into the bedroom. It was extremely cozy and so full of love. 

Tony appreciated these little moments with Peter so much. 

He knew these are the moments that he will look back on when Peter is older and most likely won’t want to sleep and cuddle with him anymore but he knows that Peter will forever be his little boy. 

Once Peter was fast asleep, Tony pulled the blankets up to his chin and pressed a kiss to his forehead. “I love you, Peter. Sleep good.” Tony whispered and then got off the bed and made his way down to his office to make a very important phone call. 

He was scared to say the least. 

He didn’t know if Pepper had heard what he did from the Avengers somehow or just in general but he doesn’t think she found out because if she did then she would have already been on his ass about everything. 

Tony sat himself down at his work desk and was about to press her contact on his phone to call her but his eyes landed on a picture of Peter that he framed and put down there. 

A smile appeared on his face at just the sight of his kid who he loved so much. More than anything he ever loved and ever will love. 

Peter was his life now and that’s all that he’ll ever want or need. 

Tony pried his eyes away from the picture of his son and pressed on Pepper’s contact to call her. 

He tried to mentally prepare himself for how this conversation was going to go but whether Pepper was okay with it or not, he was keeping Peter and would choose Peter over Pepper without a second thought. 

“Hello?” Pepper answered the phone. 

“Hey. Uh, so did you hear anything about… anything?” Tony asked her, scared of the answer. 

“What are you talking about?” Pepper asked, sounding concerned now. “Did you do something?” 

Tony hated how she always made him sound like a little kid getting in trouble with their parents for breaking a plate. “I’m going to assume you didn’t then.” 

“Tony.” Pepper sounded annoyed now. “Why did you call me?” 

Tony shut his eyes. He knew he had to tell her eventually and he already waited long enough. “So we went on a mission to a Hydra base, as you may have heard, and long story short I adopted a kid, Pep.” 

Pepper was silent on the other end for a few long seconds that Tony had to check the phone to see if they didn’t disconnect. 

“You did what?” She asked in a low voice. “Please tell me you aren’t saying what I think you just said.” 

“I adopted a boy. His name is Peter and he’s seven years old.” Tony explained to her. “We aren’t dating anymore, Pep. We haven’t been on the same page for a while and even though I know I’ll never love another girl like I love you, I don’t care whether you are okay with this or not. I adopted him and I’m going to raise my kid whether you are okay with it or not.” 

Tony took a breath. He never expected to stand up to Pepper like that but he had to. He had to for Peter and their future together. 

“How long has this been going on?” She asked, Tony couldn’t tell whether she was upset or not. 

“About a month. A little less than a month.” Tony answered although he kinda lost track of time. 

“Alright. Alright.” Pepper said and the line was silent for a few more seconds. “I’m surprised, Tony. I’m really really surprised but I’m not going to tell you that you can’t do this because it seems like you already have your mind set at this.” 

Tony sighed in relief and slumped in his chair. “I am.” 

“I just hope your heart is in the same place.” She said, more seriously. “Because you can’t be messing with this little boys emotions.” 

Tony didn’t even want to think about throwing everything that Peter and him had away. What they had was way too pure and precious. 

He chuckled. “Pep, I promise you I’m not going to throw him away after I get… bored or whatever with what we made together because I won’t. Peter is here to stay.” 

“I surprisingly believe you.” She laughed. “Can I meet him?” 

Tony was not expecting that at all. “Um… yeah. Yeah, if you want. I’ll talk to him but I know Pete will want to meet you as well.” 

“Alright then. Let me know but what do you say about me coming to New York at the end of the week let’s say Friday?” 

Tony was agreeing before he even realized what he was saying. “Yeah. That works perfectly. I’ll talk to you later then.” 

After saying their goodbyes and hanging up, Tony put his phone down and leaned back in his chair with another sigh of relief. 

Everything worked a lot better than he thought it would. 

.  
.  
.

“Pancakes or waffles for breakfast?” Tony asked Peter while they made their way down to the kitchen after waking up together. 

Peter was holding onto Tony’s hand and rubbing at his eyes. “Pancake please.” 

“Good choice. Grab a book to read while I get started on breakfast, bub.” Tony ruffled Peter’s messy curls and gently pushed him off towards the living room to grab a book to read. 

That was another one of their morning routines that they had begun doing. Tony loved it because it always made everything so calm and peaceful which was extremely important for Peter and his development right now. 

Once the pancakes were done, Tony carried two plates and a sippy cup over to the living room. If there was one thing that Tony wasn’t ready to get rid of yet was the sippy cup since Peter had zero coordination when it came to drinking from actual cups and Tony didn’t want to throw everything onto him at once so getting rid of the sippy cups would definitely be the last thing they do. 

“Daddy.” Peter said, tapping him on the arm with sticky fingers. “This pancake look… looks like a dinosaur.” 

Tony looked at the oddly shaped pancake and smiled. “Oh yeah. It does kinda look like a dinosaur, doesn’t it?” 

Peter made munching noises and shoved it into his mouth. “I eat him now.” 

“Eat all his friends too. Then they can have a party in your stomach.” Tony joked and pushed Peter’s plate towards him a little bit more, causing Peter to start giggling and quickly trying to get the rest of the pancakes into his mouth. 

Once breakfast was done, Tony and Peter went back upstairs and into Peter’s bedroom where Tony had a present waiting for Peter on his bed. 

“What this?” Peter said but then stopped to think about it. “What’s this?” 

Tony sat on the edge of the bed and patted the spot next to him so Peter could come and sit beside him. “It’s a present that I got for you because I think you’re ready for it now.” 

Tony watched as Peter scrunched his nose up in confusion as he tried to figure out what Tony meant. He carefully picked the wrapped present up and placed it on his lap to examine it. “Can I open it?” 

“It’s all yours. Go ahead.” Tony gestured for Peter to open the present so Peter smiled happily and started tearing the wrapping paper off. 

He pulled out a package of underwear and looked at it, confused. “This… for under pants?” 

Tony nodded but he knew Peter’s hate for the material and he didn’t blame him. If he could walk around commando then he would but he couldn’t and Peter couldn’t either. Of course Tony would let him get away with it some days but most of the time, underwear was mandatory. 

“Yeah. It’s called underwear and everyone wears it.” Tony explained to the seven year old while he tried to figure out what his face expression was. 

“Everyone?” Peter asked while turning the package around to get a better look at it. 

“Yeah. Well… babies don’t. And probably really old people as well but that’s not important.” Tony didn’t want to turn the topic elsewhere. 

“I don’t like them. I say no.” Peter said and placed the package onto the bed between him and his father. 

Tony picked the package up and ripped it open then pulled out an underwear with Iron Man on it. He saw them and just had to buy it because he had to have his boy representing his merch plus he thought that it would make Peter want to put it on more. 

“Look how cool these are. I wish they had them in my size so I could wear them.” Tony held them up for him and Peter to see but Peter shook his head and moved away. 

“Don’ like.” Peter mumbled, going back into his old speech. 

“How about you try them on first?” Tony suggested then grabbed the waistband of Peter’s pyjamas to pull them off and held out the underwear for him. 

Peter slid off the bed and fell to the floor then started crying. 

Tony sighed in defeat and put the underwear on his lap as he watched Peter. He knew the child was just going through his emotions but he was still frustrated because it hurt his ears and his heart when Peter cried. 

Even though he was only doing it for attention sometimes. 

“Let’s just try, Peter. I promise it’ll be better when you’re wearing them.” Tony tried again but Peter shook his head so Tony reached down and pulled Peter onto the bed. “Just try.” 

“No. Don’ like!” Peter tried to kick Tony’s hands away from him while the billionaire tried to get Peter's feet through the holes but it wasn’t working so he stopped. 

“Just try, Peter.” Tony begged but Peter shook his head. 

“No!” 

Tony sighed once again. He looked at Peter and tried to think about what to do. This was another thing that he didn’t want to rush Peter to do but he also didn’t want to wait too long since it would be harder for Peter to get used to after. 

Suddenly, Tony got an idea and he knew it would work. He didn’t know why he didn’t think of it sooner and started off with it. 

He got off the bed with Peter immediately getting off the bed as well and following him down the hallway and into Tony’s bedroom. 

Tony grabbed baby deer off of his bed and went to walk back to Peter’s bedroom but Peter was standing in front of him and trying to reach for his baby deer. 

“Mine. Baby deer.” Peter grunted as he tried to reach up for his stuffed animal so Tony handed it to him and led Peter back towards his bedroom then picked him up to place him back on the bed. 

“Can I see baby deer, Peter?” Tony asked and held his hand out for the stuffed animal. 

Peter hesitated before pressing a kiss to the top of baby deers head like Tony had done to Peter so many times. He handed his deer to Tony and watched carefully. 

Tony grabbed baby deer and placed the stuffed animal on his lap then put the underwear on baby deer. Peter started reaching for his animal and shaking his head in distress. “No. No, he don’ like it, take off, daddy. He don’ like it on.” 

“He does like it, Peter.” Tony told him. “Baby deer told me last night.” 

Peter stopped whining and looked at Tony curiously. “What did he say?” 

“He said ‘Peter’s daddy, I want to wear underwear like a big deer so can you get some for me’” Tony made his voice go high pitched to imitate what baby deer would sound like. 

Peter was stuck between trying to believe it and not wanting to. “No. He don’.” 

“But he did. He also asked me if you would wear underwear with him so he’s not the only one.” Tony added and hoped that it worked. 

Peter looked at baby deer as if he was having a secret, silent conversation with him. “But… baby deer don’ want to.” 

Tony nodded his head and pulled out another pair of underwear from the pack. “But he does. He asked me last night.” 

Peter frowned at baby deer and took him off of Tony’s lap. He pulled the underwear off of the deer and grabbed the package of underwear to find another pair for him then he started to dress up baby deer again. 

“Look.” Peter proudly lifted up his deer to show Tony. “He’s wearin’ ‘dem.” 

“Woah. He looks so cool.” Tony picked up another pair and handed them to Peter. “Now it’s your turn so baby deer isn’t the only one wearing them.” 

It looked like Peter was about to protest at first but then he handed the underwear back to Tony and lifted his legs up. “You do it.” 

Tony smiled proudly as he put the underwear on Peter. He did not expect that to work out so nicely but it did and he was more than happy about that. 

Once the underwear was on Peter, he sat up fully and froze. Tony knew that he was extremely uncomfortable with the new material there but he also knew that Peter would get used to it in time. 

He handed Peter his baby deer and got off the bed for Peter to follow him. 

Peter stood up and went to walk forward but he stopped and stood with his legs apart slightly and a grimace on his face. Tony chuckled at him because his kid was extremely extra. “Just walk, Pete. It’s not that bad.” 

Peter was walking as if he had two broken legs in casts but at least he wasn’t taking the underwear off. “Not comfy please.” 

Tony reached for Peter’s hand. “Why are you saying please, bud?” 

Peter let out a whine and tugged on his waistband. “Off please.” 

Leaning down, Tony picked Peter up and set him on his hip then made his way down to the living room so he could distract Peter until he no longer found his new underwear uncomfortable and didn’t want to take them off anymore. 

.  
.  
.

The week went by extremely fast. 

Tony and Peter were making huge progress with everything. It was slow but progress nonetheless. 

Tony had sat Peter down and told him that Pepper was going to come for a visit and to Tony’s surprise, Peter was excited about meeting a potential new friend and because of Peter’s excitement, Tony was excited as well. 

The father and son duo were sitting on the living room floor and playing with a stack of blocks that was definitely Peter’s second favourite thing to do, after his books…well, maybe his third favourite thing to do, after reading his books and taking a shower or bath. 

The elevator doors opened so Peter looked up and saw that someone new was coming into their house so he sat himself down in Tony’s lap and watched Pepper with wide, curious eyes. 

Pepper walked into the penthouse and stopped at the edge of the carpet with her eyes glued on Peter sitting in Tony’s lap. “Hello. How are you, Peter? My name is Pepper.” 

Peter shifted on Tony’s lap so he could wrap his arms around Tony’s neck while still looking at Pepper. Tony rubbed his back for reassurance. “Remember I told you about Pepper? She’s my friend.” 

“Oh.” Peter said then slid off of Tony’s lap to play with his blocks again. He grabbed two of them and stood up to cautiously walk over to Pepper. “Are you gon’ play with me?” Peter turned back towards Tony after realizing his mistake. “Gonna.” 

Pepper sat on her knees and held her hand out for one of the blocks. “I would love to, Peter. Have you and Tony been playing?” 

Peter frowned and followed Pepper onto his knees as well. He pointed back at Tony, “That’s my daddy.” 

Pepper’s eyes widened but she regained her composure quickly. “Oh. That’s your daddy. That’s right.” 

She looked over at Tony and gave him a weak smile but he looked away from her and back at his son. He knew this was all new news to her but this was something that he had gotten used to now. 

This was his life now and he wouldn’t trade it for the world. 

“Me and daddy read my books. All the time.” Peter said to Pepper and crawled over to grab a book from his pile then crawled back over to Pepper and placed the book on her lap. “Yous gonna read it?” 

Pepper took the book from Peter and looked surprised. “You want me to read it to you?” 

Peter nodded his head but looked back at Tony to be sure that that was okay. Tony just smiled at him and gestured for him that that was okay and to continue. 

The seven year old turned back to Pepper and looked up at her with his chocolate brown eyes. “Read it please?” 

With a glance up at Tony again, Pepper nodded her head and read the tile. “The Chocolate Tree. Woah. This book makes me already want some chocolate.” 

Peter giggled and jumped to his feet. “I’m not allowed to have chocolate before dinner.” 

Pepper laughed and looked back over at Tony. “Oh really? So your daddy has some rules I see.” 

Peter ran over to Tony and threw himself into his arms. “Yeah! Just sometimes chocolate. Not in the bed though. Makes poopy stains.” 

Both adults started laughing. Tony thought back to what caused that rule. 

Peter had snuck chocolate into his bed and was munching on it so when Tony came out of the bathroom that night and saw a bunch of brown marks on the bed, he thought Peter pooped and made him go into the bathroom and sit on the toilet, only to find out it was in fact chocolate, to Tony’s utter relief. 

“Yeah, you’re a little monkey, aren’t you my little one.” Tony shifted Peter so he was on his lap, cradled in his arms. Tony then pressed a bunch of kisses to Peter’s face until he eventually released him and let him go over to Pepper to finish reading his book. 

“Chocolate tree! Chocolate tree!” Peter yelled happily and sat himself down next to Pepper. 

.  
.  
.

Later that night, after Tony had gotten Peter washed in the shower because Peter refused to do it by himself which was okay. Tony didn’t mind since Peter would still bathe himself some nights. 

Tony then got Peter dressed in his Iron Man pyjamas and put on Little Bear for him while Tony went for a quick shower himself and got ready for bed in the bathroom. 

After he was done, he shut the lights off and crawled into bed, pulling Peter against his side so he could cuddle his kid. “You smell so good, Pete. Mmm just like apples.” 

Peter giggled and shifted closer to his dad. “Red apples. Not green ones.” 

“Of course. We don’t allow any green apples in this house.” Tony added and pressed a kiss onto Peter’s tiny nose. “I love you, buddy.” 

Peter let out a content sigh and nuzzled closer against Tony’s chest. “I love you daddy. This much,” Peter spread his arms out as wide as they could go to show Tony how much he loves him. 

Tony loved him that much plus more. 

He loved the way his life turned out, even if it was the last thing he expected, he was more than okay with how everything turned out and would love and protect Peter no matter what happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo this is the last chapter!! I just wanted to thank everyone who has read this story and supported me throughout all the chapters! I really really do appreciate you guys all so much but everything good must come to an end eventually and I couldn’t have left this on a bad note:) 
> 
> I hope everyone liked the ending,, I was a bit iffy of it at first but after I edited it I loved it so much and I think it fits perfectly. 
> 
> Ok so during this fic I wanted to make a sequel which would basically be about Peter age 14/15 and he becomes Spider-Man and all that but idkkkk 100% if I want to do that. I don’t have any inspiration to write that right now but we’ll see! 
> 
> As for what will happen whether or not I write the sequel just to give you guys some idea... in this universe, nothing after infinity war will happen so tony and peter will be together, no endgame no ffh or anything:) just how it should be:) 
> 
> Anyways again, thank you so much for reading! A appreciate all the love I have received:)))


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